After the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported, on June 1, that former President Donald Trump believes he will be “reinstated” as president by August, many Trump critics — from liberals and progressives to Never Trump conservatives — warned that his delusions could inspire more attacks like the January 6 insurrection as well as an increase in threats against officials. The death threats, harassment and intimidation that election workers have been receiving from Trump supporters is the focus of in-depth article published by Reuters this week, and reporter Linda So shows that the abuse continues months after Trump’s departure from the White House.
In her report, So emphasizes that the election workers who have suffered ongoing abuse range from high-level officials such as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (a conservative Republican) to low-level and mid-level election workers. Raffensperger, following the 2020 presidential election, infuriated Trump and his allies — including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and far-right attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood — by maintaining that now-President Joe Biden won Georgia fairly and that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state as Trump claimed. And Raffensperger, along with his wife Tricia Raffensperger, have been inundated with death threats ever since.
So reports that on April 5, Tricia Raffensperger received a text message saying that a family member was “going to have a very unfortunate incident” — and that message was followed by one in mid-April saying, “We plan for the death of you and your family every day.” Then, on April 24, she received a text message saying, “You and your family will be killed very slowly.” Continue reading.