The Obvious Lie

(Text modified from a campaign email sent on March 16, 2026)

We need to talk about the 2020 election.

It is tempting to treat Trump’s fixation on that loss as another one of his odd personal deficiencies. But that framing ignores the broader historical context of 2020 election denialism.

Most people are familiar with “The Big Lie,” a major propaganda technique of authoritarian regimes.

In the 21st century, wannabe fascists have created a new variant of this tactic: The Obvious Lie.

In the 20th century, authoritarians used The Big Lie to persuade populations. A lie crafted to expand a party's base, and then to help it justify claiming previously prohibited powers.

The Obvious Lie works differently. The target is people in power, and the goal is not persuasion. The Obvious Lie is a loyalty test and a tool of subjugation: either the powerful demean themselves and pretend to believe, or they will soon see their power diminished.

Trump’s 2020 election denialism is not unique. It is a refined tactic of the modern authoritarian.

A powerful example is the 2010 Smolensk tragedy in Poland, a plane crash that killed 96 people, including many senior officials. Investigations definitively proved the plane crashed because it was trying to land in dangerous weather conditions. Now, 16 years later, no evidence has ever contradicted this finding.

Yet, long after the investigations were concluded, the far-right governing party turned Smolensk denialism into a loyalty test. A coherent counter-theory never emerged, but it was not necessary. Politicians, media figures, civil servants, and business leaders quickly learned that acknowledging the facts could close doors and end careers – while promoting the conspiracies signaled loyalty and opened pathways to more power.

Sound familiar?

The Obvious Lie works better than a loyalty pledge because it forces powerful people to show their loyalty.

And the more energetically someone promotes the lie, the more rewards they receive from the authoritarian movement. That is why Republicans are racing to show their loyalty by turning 2020 election denialism into policy.

Today, it is the SAVE Act, a bill that would disenfranchise millions of citizens, especially women. But it will not stop there.

Denying 2020 is not just Trump’s fixation. It is a loyalty system. And in a system where advancement depends on proving fealty, there will always be ambitious politicians eager to codify the lie into law.

We have to fight to stop the SAVE Act. So far, Democrats in Washington are holding the line on that, and they should continue to do so.

But stopping one bill is not enough. This fight is not about one bill or one man’s obsession. It is a long-term strategy to protect power by testing loyalty, narrowing the electorate, and undermining elections.

If we are going to win, we have to understand what we are up against. Voting rights and election protections cannot be treated as just another issue on a long list of policy goals. They are the foundation that determines whether every other fight remains possible.

Defending that foundation requires more than treating each new attack on voting rights as a standalone policy dispute, or expressing new outrage every time Republicans repeat the lie.

The Obvious Lie loses power when it is named for what it is.

When Republicans pretend the 2020 election was stolen, Democrats should not treat it like an ordinary political lie. It is not a misleading attack ad or a cynical exaggeration. It is a public act of submission to Trump by ambitious people who know the truth and have decided that humiliating themselves is a fair price for power.

That is the point of the performance. The real energy is not spent trying to deceive voters. It is spent performing for Trump. They are proving their obedience.

Once we understand that, our response becomes clearer. Yes, we have to stop the SAVE Act. We have to reject every attempt to turn election denialism into election law. But we also have to strip the lie of its theatrical power by breaking the fourth wall:

We don’t keep re-litigating the 2020 election as though Trump and his allies are confused about what happened. They know Biden won.

Instead, we should call out the performance itself. We should focus on the officials debasing themselves to repeat known lies because they believe public humiliation is the price of advancement in Trump’s movement.

The Obvious Lie loses power when the audience stops arguing with the script and starts naming the actors, the performance, and the man they are performing for.

Follow Alex Rikleen on Bluesky at @rikleen.bsky.social.