The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020

A probing, insightful, and illuminating analysis of current state of American politics, focusing on Donald Trump’s lie about election fraud, by the White House Correspondent for the Associated Press

Donald Trump first tried it out in 2016, during an August rally in Ohio. He said that perhaps he wouldn’t accept the election results in his race against Hillary Clinton, that the election was “rigged.” He then went on to mention it at more rallies and in TV interviews, and even at one of the fall debates. He didn’t end up having to challenge the result that year, but the stage had been set. When he lost in 2020, he started the lie back up again and this time to devastating results: an insurrection at the Capitol in January 2021.

In the more than five tumultuous, head-spinning, paradigm-shifting years of Donald Trump’s presidency and beyond, his near-constant lying has become a fixture of political life. It is in fact inextricably linked with how his party behaves, how the Democrats respond to it, and how he remains relevant, even after a decisive loss in 2020. Jonathan Lemire, the White House reporter for the Associated Press, brings his connections, profile, and dogged reportorial instincts to bear in his first book that explores this phenomenon and how it’s shaping our politics.

What he uncovers is that “The Big Lie,” as it’s been termed, isn’t just about the 2020 election. It has become a political philosophy that has only further divided the two parties. The Republicans are still wholly under Trump’s sway. From his retirement at his Florida and New Jersey clubs he meets with Republican officials, aspiring candidates, and a cavalcade of advisors where he demands loyalty about this twisted way of thinking. And Democrats, for a moment triumphant in Trump’s defeat, are still dealing with him as their opposition party is driven by a blatant lie. The parties aren’t divided by the aisle -- they’re on different planets.

Written with sharp political insight and detailed with dozens of interviews, THE BIG LIE is the first book to examine this unprecedented and tenuous moment in our nation’s politics.

The book, The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN# 9781250819628 in Hardcover by Jonathan Lemire may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.