'They start a coup': MAGA conspiracy theorists go into overdrive over Biden announcement
Only three days after Donald Trump gave his presidential acceptance speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee — and eight days after Trump survived an assassination attempt — the United States' already-turbulent presidential race was rocked by another major development: President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
In an article Monday, Wired's David Gilbert emphasizes that Biden's announcement has sent MAGA conspiracy theorists into overdrive.
On X, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), for example, posted, "The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election."
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Gilbert notes, however, that Biden was the presumptive nominee — not the official nominee, as the 2024 Democratic National Convention isn't until August.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted, "Joe Biden succumbed to a coup by Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hollywood donors, ignoring millions of Democratic primary votes. Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy."
Similarly, far-right Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted, "The coup is complete."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) echoed the "coup" theme as well, tweeting, "There's a soft civil war happening in the deep state and the elites in power. The Democrats, the IC (intelligence community), and their activists in the media have been lying to us saying there's nothing wrong with Biden for years. Next, they start a coup against him demanding he drop out of the race when they couldn’t hide it anymore."
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But attorney Marc Elias, known for his expertise on elections, pointed out that there is nothing coup-like about replacing Biden with another candidate before the Democratic convention.
Responding to Speaker Johnson's post, Elias tweeted, "If your lawyers are telling you that they can prevent the DNC from nominating its candidate of choice, they are idiots."
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The full Wired article is available at this link.