The history of the United States is replete with examples of white conservative groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, sending throngs of people to observe and intimidate Black voters at polling places.

The very Voting Rights Act that GOP-appointed Supreme Court justices have been effectively dismantling for decades, including just two weeks ago, features provisions specifically designed to protect against this kind of intimidation.

And that history looms over President Donald Trump’s touting of an “Election Integrity Army” that he has said Republicans will send to every state for this year’s midterm elections.

The president’s announcement came Sunday in a social media post in which he falsely accused Democrats of laying the groundwork for voter suppression. He basically attempted to sully a task force Democrats are standing up ahead of the midterms to protect against any offensive the Trump administration may wage on electoral processes this fall. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the initiative late last month and said it would feature former Attorney General Eric Holder and liberal lawyer Marc Elias, both of whom Trump has repeatedly attacked.

It’s unclear what, exactly, Trump’s effort will entail, but his post said it will be larger than a similar GOP initiative in 2024. I’ll note here that Trump loyalist Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general overseeing the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, previously pushed for the Republican National Committee to hire lawyers to challenge states’ electoral processes.

Ja’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.