Messaging Guidance: Response to Trump/Johnson Press Conference
Provided by Declaration for American Democracy Coalition & Democracy SENTRY
Please use the messaging guidance below to help debunk false claims regarding our elections, and pivot instead to the need to strengthen our freedom to vote amidst these undemocratic attacks on our elections.
Topline Messaging Guidance
- Extremist politicians are lying about voting and our elections to justify and pass a radical political agenda to restrict voting for millions of eligible Americans.
- It’s a continuation of their Big Lie and refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.
- The truth is Donald Trump lost that election and no amount of misinformation or harassment of election workers will change that.
- [If the issue of non-citizen voting comes up]: It’s already illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot in federal elections, and states have secure systems in place to prevent noncitizens from voting. Those who violate the law already face severe penalties. There is no proof anywhere of wide-spread voter fraud in this country, and in fact, Trump’s own Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was disbanded because it wasn’t able to find any.
- Pro-reform legislation in Congress, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, would shore up our democracy and prevent blatant attempts to silence our voices and to ensure our sacred freedom to vote
- The Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would protect our democracy, defend it against the relentless ongoing threats, and ensure that the voices and votes of all voters are heard in our elections.
- While (MAGA) extremists are attempting to hand power to election deniers, dark money groups, and corporate special interests, these bills give the power in our democracy back to the people.
Additional Talking Points
- State Examples: Despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, Florida and Texas have empowered ‘election police’ to punish mostly Black voters for honest mistakes or confusion about eligibility. In many instances, these states themselves indicated to these people that they were eligible to vote. People are being punished for administrative errors committed by the state – this is state-sanctioned voter intimidation, meant to scare eligible voters from participating in our elections. – Brennan Center
- Our freedom to vote is under attack by extremist legislators, who in 2023 considered at least 356 anti-voter bills in at least 47 states. Many of these restrictive laws disproportionately impact voters of color. Now, under the guise of the big lie, extremists in Congress are pushing these policies at the federal level, and disguising it as a bill that would strengthen U.S. elections
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