Why is Trump so Desperate to Keep Us From Voting?”

How to reset the agenda of the election debate.

Feb 18, 2026

Our mission is to make the election debate about the Epstein files, and make American citizens so angry about Trump’s placing hurdles in between them and their ballot box that they will march through hell or high water to vote.

woman in black shorts and white shirt sitting on blue and red metal bar during daytime — Photo by Eduard Labár on Unsplash

Whoever sets the agenda of the debate wins.

Our mission in the public debate is NOT to defeat our opponents in a rational argument, but to expose persuadable voters to language that gets them to see issues from our perspective. Whose language voters get exposed to depends on the subject matter or “agenda” of the debate: not so much the “issue” itself as which argument people are having within that issue: which questions are being raised. We win by getting our opponents to engage in arguments that are framed from our perspective, and then keeping those arguments in the spotlight as long as possible to maximize voter exposure.

Trump’s Agenda

According to The New York Times:

“Behind the president’s bombastic rhetoric is what election law experts call an extensive and distracting — if so far broadly unsuccessful — effort by the federal government to insert itself into state-run elections. The goal appears not necessarily to win in court, but to use the presidential megaphone and the powers of the federal government incessantly to plant seeds of doubt about the integrity of the election process.”
“Mr. Trump is leaning heavily on Republicans to pass legislation that would federalize more barriers to accessing the vote — and threatening to act without them if they don’t.”

Trump’s Narrative

I am taking action (fighting fraud, requiring IDs, banning vote-by-mail, making states clean up voter files, etc.) because Democrats are trying to make it easier for non-citizens to vote so they can steal the upcoming elections just like they did in 2020.

This exposes people to certain trigger words. Also from The New York Times:

Trump is trying to create associations between non-citizens and voting / fraud, between Democrats and crooked / stealing elections, between elections (2020 and upcoming midterms) and rigged / fraudulent / stolen, and so on.

Questions

If we were to engage in this debate on his terms, what questions would arise in the minds of voters?

Is Trump fighting voter fraud?
Are non-citizens voting/committing voter fraud?
Are Democrats trying to make it easier for ineligible people to vote?
Should people be required to show IDs?
Does vote-by-mail make it easier for people to commit fraud?
Should we “clean up” state voter files?
Was the 2020 election stolen from Trump?
Will the 2026 midterm elections be stolen?

In debate questions, the advantage goes to the side who makes the assertion, whose preferred answer to the question is “YES.” In all of the above questions, Trump benefits from the assertion being made, and we are in the position of having to refute it. By engaging in any way, we take a defensive position.

We cannot win by refuting his assertions - no matter how well we do it. For example, even if we provide evidence that voter fraud by non-citizens is virtually non-existent, just keeping the conversation alive successfully exposes voters to the negative associations Trump is trying to make. The same is true for virtually every claim he makes. The only way to win is to reset the terms of the debate: to not respond and then reframe the debate from our perspective.

Thank you for reading Reframing America! My work is completely financed by subscribers like you! All content is free, but many people choose to become paying subscribers to help support this mission of improving how we communicate!

Use this link to subscribe or upgrade! Thank you!

Our Agenda

Our mission is to make this debate about the Epstein files, and make American citizens so angry about Trump’s placing hurdles in between them and their ballot box that they will march through hell or high water to vote! To do that, we also have to reassure people that our elections are secure.

Our Narrative

Trump is terrified of losing the protection of Republicans in Congress because he thinks he will be impeached and that the Epstein files are going to land him in jail. He is doing everything in his power to prevent voting (put obstacles/hurdles in voters’ paths) because it is nearly impossible to steal enough votes after they have been cast, and if you try, you will get caught – which he ought to know, because he tried and got caught!

Questions

If our opponents were to engage in this debate on our terms, what questions would arise in the minds of voters?

Does Trump not want people to vote?
Is he afraid Republicans are going to lose?
Are Republicans protecting him?
Will Trump be impeached if the Republicans lose control of Congress? (He thinks he will be.)
Is he afraid of being held responsible for whatever he is hiding in the Epstein files?
Is Trump going to end up in jail?
Did Trump get caught trying to steal the 2020 election?
Will Trump try to steal the election again?
Does he think he will get caught if he tries?
Is it easier to suppress votes in large quantities than it is to steal them after the fact?
Is that why he is trying to prevent people from voting in the first place?

These questions naturally lead to further discussion about what is in the Epstein files and why the Trump administration is trying so hard to keep them hidden. They also provide ample opportunity to discuss exactly how Trump tried to steal the 2020 election and how he got caught (Jack Smith, phone call, false electors, etc.) If we keep pushing this message, anything Trump says about “fighting fraud” will only raise the question of why Trump keeps trying to make it harder for people to vote. Now we are the ones planting the seeds of doubt.

Why is vote suppression morally wrong?

As always, we need to ratchet up people’s sense of moral urgency. We need to emphasize how despicable it is to rob someone of their ability to vote and have their vote counted. Here are some talking points about why voting matters.

Freedom

It’s not just about being free to vote. Voting is what makes us free.
The freedom of every American citizen depends on their right to be heard and represented, and that means getting to vote and having your vote counted.
We choose to have laws because we want to live in a society that is safe, functional and fair, but that doesn’t mean we give up our freedom. What makes us free is that we get to choose the people who make those laws.
If you take away a person’s vote, you take away their freedom: their right to have their say in choosing the people whose decisions impact their lives.
What makes America a free country is the right of our citizens to live under a government of their own choosing.
The right to representation is the difference between democracy and dictatorship.

The Will of the People

We can all agree that the purpose of an election is to faithfully express the will of the people.
The only way to determine the true will of the people, is to make sure that every eligible person has equal access to voting and to having their vote counted.
The purpose of elections is to determine the will of the people, and that means all of the people.
Why do Trump/Republicans put up more and more obstacles to voting? They routinely disregard the will of the people and serve private interests over the public interests, and are afraid voters will hold them accountable for their actions.
Democrats are not afraid of the American voters. We want every citizen to vote, because we know that we are delivering what the American people want.

Secure Elections

We want to address voter suppression without giving people any reason to lose faith in the validity of the upcoming elections or that their vote will count.

Our Narrative

Elections in the U.S. are incredibly difficult to steal, and virtually impossible to steal without getting caught. They are run by states and localities, and there are many safeguards in place, but if you have doubts, you should learn more or even sign up to be election workers or observers and help make our elections more secure.

Rather than just avoiding talk about Trump’s attempt to steal elections, we need to make it clear that yes, people do try to steal elections, but they always get caught. Focus on the mechanisms used to safeguard elections, such as that virtually all vote processing happens under the eye of election judges and observers from both parties, and that election results can be and often are verified by hand counts, either of randomly selected precincts or – if necessary – entire elections.

If people have doubts, rather than have them give up on voting, we want to emphasize that they have agency in this situation. They can learn more about how elections are managed so they can feel reassured, and/or they can do their part as citizens to make elections more secure by volunteering to help run or observe them.

Why the term “hurdles” works.

What do you visualize when you think of hurdles? You always see someone sailing over them. The number one visual we want to create in people’s minds is that Trump is intentionally placing obstacles in their path, but we do not want this visual to make them feel that voting is too difficult. We want them to visualize themselves sailing right over those obstacles!