“The slickly produced movie trailer, set to ominous music, cuts from scenes of the 2020 election to clips of allies of former president Donald Trump describing a vast conspiracy to steal the White House. ‘The Deep Rig,’ a film financed by former Overstock.com chief executive Patrick Byrne for $750,000, is set to be released online this weekend – the latest production by a loosely affiliated network of figures who have harnessed right-wing media outlets, podcasts and the social media platform Telegram to promote the falsehood that the 2020 election was rigged. The baseless assertion, backed by millions of dollars from wealthy individuals, is reverberating across this alternative media ecosphere five months after Trump and many of his backers were pushed off Facebook and Twitter for spreading disinformation that inspired a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.”

“While largely unnoticed by Americans who have accepted the fact of President Biden’s victory, the deluge of content has captured the attention of many who think the election was rigged, a belief that is an animating force inside the Republican Party. In this world, ballot reviews like a Republican-commissioned recount now underway in Arizona are about to begin in other key swing states. Conspiracy theories that grow more dizzyingly complex by the day will soon be proven, showing that China or other foreign powers secretly flipped votes for Biden. Trump will be restored as president in months. These falsehoods are now seeping into civic life, spurring citizens in multiple states to demand that local officials review the 2020 results. Kim Wyman, the Republican secretary of state in Washington, said her staff contended with the latest barrage of email and calls just last week. ‘It told us something had transpired online,’ she said, adding: ‘You can’t disprove the negatives that are being thrown out that are absolutely based on nothing'” – Washington Post.