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LOS ANGELES -- Weeks prior to the 2016 presidential election, candidate Donald Trump began to toss some new red meat to his carnivorous supporters -- the possibility of a rigged election. His poll numbers pointed to a defeat, possibly a resounding one. Democrats, myself included, were not especially worried about the outcome.

As Nov. 8 approached, Trumps warnings about a fixed election grew more frequent and more vehement, jacking up the belligerence of the MAGA crowd beyond the usual racist anti-immigration frenzy and customary Hillary Clinton-bashing.

At the time, many of my fellow Democratic friends and I believed that Trump was a harmless blowhard who enjoyed the adulation of raucous rally crowds and hoped for no more than a resurrection of his failed TV career. Many pundits held similar opinions.

Blowhard, yes. Harmless, no.

To many observers, this rigged-election business seemed a lame, pre-emptive attempt at cushioning the blow when Trump lost by an embarrassingly wide margin. Many of us believed that Trump might even be relieved by a loss, sparing him from a job for which he had no experience or qualifications. He was just interested in polishing his brand, we told ourselves, and he certainly did not want any nosy congressional investigations of his murky financial empire. After all, he had refused to reveal his tax returns, so there was reason for curiosity.

Clearly, we were being nave. Granted, this was before candidate Trump had had the power to actually do anything other than make promises about a wall and rant about rapists and murderers invading America from the southern border, but his rabid followers -- of which, surprisingly, there were millions -- were no less moved by his descriptions of what he intended to do as president. His rallies were packed and no less unruly and inflammatory than they are today. Suddenly, the possibility of a stolen election became an effective propaganda ploy. Hillary was a criminal, Trump told his troops, and her election would be a travesty. (Remember Lock her up!?)

If he had lost in 2016, how far would Trumps hard-core loyalists have gone to see him installed as president?

In swing states like Pennsylvania, Hillary lost by just over 44,000 votes; in Wisconsin, it was a deficit of approximately 23,000 votes; in Michigan, a mere 11,000. Had she won those swing states and a few others by narrow margins, resulting in her election, would Donald Trump have cried foul even after recounts in each swing state showed no substantial cases of fraud? No doubt his followers would have been enraged -- but how enraged? Enraged enough to take action?

John Blumenthal

Would Trumps hard-core devotees have been angry enough to go to great lengths to steal the election away from Hillary Clinton?

Would the Big Lie have been born as early as 2016?

At the time, congressional power lay solidly with Republicans in both Houses Paul Ryan was House Speaker; Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority Leader; congressional committees were chaired by Republicans. By then, McConnell had already proven himself to be primarily interested in power after all, he had vocalized his goal to make Barack Obama a one-term president and later denied our 44th president his constitutional right to appoint a Supreme Court Justice.

And the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency was anathema to a great many Republicans.

Would some swing-state election officials have disqualified Democratic ballots? Would legislators have overturned their states votes? Would the House of Representatives have refused to certify some Clinton electors? In other words, would we be where we are now six years ago, in the midst of a Big Lie movement and its accompanying existential threats to democracy?

A stretch of the imagination? Probably, but certainly no more surreal than the shocking facts about Jan. 6 that are now being exposed before our very eyes.

An award-winning novelist and former magazine editor who co-authored the movie, Blue Streak, John Blumenthals work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times,The Chicago Sun-Times,Playboy, Publishers Weekly, Salonand Huffington Post. This was written for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.

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What if Trump had used the Big Lie in 2016, if hed lost that election? John Blumenthal - cleveland.com