‘We got cheated’: Pro-Trump online forums in disbelief over lack of a ‘red tsunami’

Pro-Trump online communities have reacted with dismay and disbelief to early results in Tuesday’s US midterm elections, blaming voter fraud for the lack of a red wave.Before many races had even been called, users in far-right Telegram channels and bulletin boards had begun accusing Democrats and establishment Republicans of fixing the race.”These results are farcical,” said one poster on The Donald, a successor to Reddit’s banned TheDonald forum. “There’s no rhyme or reason. You don’t get a blowout from counties in Florida and then magically cross state lines into ‘highly competitive’ territory in Georgia.”Another wrote: ” If this doesn’t turn out to be a horrible nightmare, it’s going to be a real horrible nightmare. It’s bothering more than 2020 … can’t help but think of it as the death bell for the empire, locked into its decline.”Meanwhile, Telegram users declared themselves “beyond disgusted”, “done with voting”, and ready for “civil war”, with one concluding: “We got cheated and rolled and there’s nothing we can do about it.”There is no evidence of widespread fraud in this week’s elections, and claims spread by Donald Trump of suspicious activity in Arizona and Michigan remain unsubstantiated.Most states have not yet finished counting their votes, and some races remain in the balance or too close to call. ‘Definitely not a Republican wave’: Lindsey Graham on midterm electionsBefore polls closed, the mood among online Trump die-hards was jubilant. “The odds for the Republicans taking the House are 4999 to 100!!!” wrote a Telegram channel called The Patriot Voice, predicting a “red tsunami”.Jack Posobiec, a pro-Trump social media influencer who played a key role in spreading false election fraud claims in 2020, told his Telegram followers: “PAINT IT RED. LEAVE EVERYTHING ON THE FIELD TODAY. NO STEP BACK. GIVE THEM MORE DEMOCRACY THAN THEY CAN HANDLE TODAY.”Many people on The Donald and Mr Trump’s social network Truth Social adopted Tuesday’s “blood moon”, in which a lunar eclipse appears to turn the moon blood-red, as a totem of Republican victory.”I think we won,” said one The Donald poster, attaching a screenshot of a New York Times article about how readers could “soothe election stress”. Another posted a meme referencing The Washington Post’s slogan “democracy dies in darkness”, adding: “LIGHTS OUT B****ES!”As Republicans romped to landslide results in Florida, conservative influencer Charlie Kirk declared: “The transformation is complete. RED STATE! Absolute collapse of the Democratic Party. Just the beginning.” Mr Posobiec said: “We are looking at the possibility of a generational realignment.”The Pro-Trump analyst Election Wizard shared a video of “audible gasps” from pundits on MSNBC when they saw early returns from Miami-Dade county, which swung strongly towards the GOP. “We are witnessing the real time collapse of the Democrats in Florida,” said a user on The Donald.MSNBC host gasps as he reads out early results from Miami-DadeDonald Trump Jr joined in the celebrations, tweeting: “Bloodbath!!!”Yet as other states’ numbers began to flag, the tone turned sour. “They keep finding votes for Fetterf*** in rigged Pennsylvania,” said one The Donald user, referring to Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman. “They are 100% about to steal Georgia for [Raphael] Warnock,” said another.One user was surprised by New York state governor Kathy Hochul’s apparent victory, saying: “There is absolutely no fucking way in God’s green earth [Kathy] Hochul has won…. the entire f***king map is red except like three counties.” County by county, most of New York’s districts do indeed lean Republican, but nearly 43 per cent of the state’s population live in deep blue New York City.Similarly, followers of the Patriot Voice Telegram channel were aghast at the re-election of Gavin Newsom as governor of California, one of the most left-wing states in the union. His victory was called just two minutes after polls closed.”The fraud in California is so bad. No one here in California likes him. We all hate him,” said one. “Everyone I know didn’t vote for that fricken loser! He stole the election just like he stole the re-call!” agreed another.Many users blamed establishment Republicans for squandering the radical energy unleashed by Mr Trump. “RNC/GOP, McConnell, McCarthy got the results they wanted,” said one. “Tonight was all about splitting the party and strangling populism out of the party. And they accomplished it. Trump will run, but perhaps he should not after tonight.”Another said: “Trump gave the GOP a winning message since 2015. Instead of working with him, they have worked against him every step of the way. This election just further proved that with how they did more to stop the America First candidates than they did the radical Dems.”