Reader: The Big Lie Is Not About the Lie Itself, It's About Undermining Belief in Everything

The crowd greeting Kamala Harris in Detroit. Really. Evan Semón Photography

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Donald Trump is not a fan of the Colorado election system. As he left the state after last Saturday's fundraiser in Aspen, he posted an error-filled message on social media that Colorado's "Radical Left Governor has gone to all Mail-In Voting, making the State a POLITICAL CESSPOOL where, even if you were leading, it would make no difference! Colorado is run by the Lunatic Left that led the effort, overturned by the United States Supreme Court, to keep me off the ballot. For that reason alone, Colorado will have a BIG TRUMP Vote!"

And then he proceeded to suggest that photos of the large crowd at the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz rally in Detroit last week were "fake," created by AI. That's a charge denied by just about everybody, including longtime Westword photographer Evan Semón, who was there to shoot the event for the United Auto Workers Union. "This is total bullshit," he says of the faked-photo charge. "For former president Trump and his team to make this sort of accusation seems very petty."

click to enlarge

Evan Semón captured the crowd in Detroit. Really.

Evan Semón Photography

And easily disproved, as some commenters note on the Westword Facebook post regarding Trump's AI claim. But others refuse to budge. Says Steve:

Multiple photographers were there and all took pictures of the same crowd. It's pretty obviously not AI generated or altered.

Responds Ken:

The photos are fake. People don't have four arms and reflections reflect things.

Adds Chris:

I don’t believe anything that CNN or any other media outlet says. They have fed us way too many lies to trust them.

Notes Russ:

As we have been told, the Big Lie is not about the lie itself. It is about undermining belief in everything. Since that subtlety is not working, Team Trump is getting desperate and telling people directly not to believe what they see.

Counters Steven:

I think people are mostly excited it's NOT Biden more than anything else. The people who hated Trump weren't gonna vote for him anyway, and since Biden was the candidate they were likely not going to vote at all. Now that Harris has usurped Biden, it's basically an even race. I think Trump has definitely had some trouble adjusting to the change, but he will.

Concludes Joe: 

How many more weeks until the election?

For the record, Colorado adopted mail-in voting long before Jared Polis was governor — back when Republican Wayne Williams was the Secretary of State, and oversaw the implementation of the system. What do you think of Trump's claims about Colorado voting? That the Detroit photos were faked? Post a comment or share your thoughts at [email protected].