Former President Trump is urging Republicans to use “every appropriate tool to beat the Democrats,” which includes early voting and absentee balloting, as part of his 2024 campaign strategy.
On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the launch of their “Swamp The Vote USA” initiative. This marks a significant shift from Trump’s position four years ago, when he condemned early-in-person voting and mail-in balloting, claiming they were responsible for widespread election fraud leading to his loss to President Biden.
“Republicans must win, and we will use every appropriate tool to beat the Democrats because they are destroying our country,” Trump stated. He emphasized that “whether you vote absentee, by mail, early in-person, or on election day, we are going to protect the vote. We make sure your ballot is secure and your voice is heard. We must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout. The way to win is to swamp them; if we swamp them with votes, they can’t cheat. You need to make a plan, register, and vote any way possible. We have got to get your vote.”
Historically, Democrats have utilized early voting more extensively than Republicans, who have typically shown stronger turnout on Election Day. Despite Trump’s past criticisms of early voting, the RNC had already launched an early-voting initiative called “Bank the Vote” under former chair Ronna McDaniel last year. The new “Swamp The Vote USA” effort is described as the successor to this program.
Trump’s stance on early voting has been inconsistent. At a Michigan rally three months ago, he labeled early voting as “totally corrupt” and “a hoax,” and at an April rally in Pennsylvania, he equated early voting with “stealing” the vote. However, at a New Jersey rally last month, while he described mail-in voting as “largely corrupt,” he also encouraged supporters to “get an absentee or mail-in ballot, vote early, or vote on Election Day.”
The Trump campaign highlights that this new effort is part of the recently announced “Trump Force 47,” a grassroots organizing program aimed at mobilizing voters in critical precincts across battleground states and districts. This initiative is seen as a response to the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) more advanced grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts.
Despite a surge in fundraising following his conviction in the first criminal trial of a current or former president, and holding a lead over Biden in recent polls in key battleground states, Trump and the RNC are still working to strengthen their ground game operations.
