Trump tours the country endorsing candidates to reinforce the ‘big lie’

As thousands turn out to hear the former president, midterm candidates vie for his backing by pushing ‘stolen’ election myth

On a chilly open field in Texas, Dan Patrick was delivering prepared remarks about the spectre of socialism when the crowd broke into a chant about the 2020 presidential election.

“Well, we all know who won in 2020, don’t we?” the state’s lieutenant governor ad-libbed. “Who won?” There was apparently not a soul who believes the answer is Joe Biden.

The campaign rally in Conroe, near Houston, was the latest stop in what might be called Donald Trump’s “big lie” tour. The former US president is travelling the country, backing Republican candidates for midterm elections who pass a specific litmus test: reinforcing his debunked claims of voter fraud.

They did so with gusto at a rally in Arizona earlier this month. On Saturday night, thousands of Texans watched giant video screens play a trailer for a “documentary” that purports to reveal how 2,000 “mules” were used to stuff votes into drop boxes in 2020 (state officials and judges found no significant evidence of irregularities).