THEY’RE VERY NERVOUS ABOUT THEIR ELECTION NARRATIVE, WHICH IS TOTALLY HOW PEOPLE WHO ARE CONFIDENT THEY WON FAIR AND SQUARE WOULD ACT: “A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 55% of Republicans falsely believe Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election was the result of illegal voting or rigging.”

“Additionally, 60% of Republicans incorrectly agree that the election was stolen from Republican Donald Trump.”

CNN reports, aggressively inserting the view that the people who were polled are wrong. I believe that’s a very unusual way to report an opinion poll, with insistence that the opinion is wrong and apart from any factual reporting that that makes it perfectly obvious that the opinion is mistaken.

This displays a desperate fear of the opinion, and I don’t think it does much good. The urge to stamp the opinion out will tend to make those who hold it grip more tightly: What are they afraid of? Are they trying to get me to move on, telling me there’s nothing to see here?

CNN continues:

What is perfectly clear, however, is that Republicans’ lack of faith in our current election infrastructure is a direct result of Trump’s historic efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 results.
It’s “perfectly clear” why people have this opinion? This is a news article, reporting a poll, and it’s making an absolute assertion about why human beings believe what they do. That doesn’t inspire confidence. It makes people suspicious, perhaps paranoid.

Why act that way, then?