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Stephen Miller, largely controversial in recent American conservative politics and a former Trump administration adviser, is celebrating some sort of victory, with one faction claiming that from Miller’s victory, in 15 Counties of the State of Arizona, only actual U.S. citizens could bring themselves to the polls. Miller is “relentless” when it comes to enforcing election laws in their view, as one such supporter, under the Twitter handle @Chicago1Ray, extolled him. Yet, the story and public reactions thereupon are a bit mired.
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First and foremost, the question arises: Is the claim truly worthy? The tweet suggested that Miller had won a lawsuit against Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. Fact-checkers could find no evidence to fully back up the claim. One of these fact-checkers, Grok, which specializes in exposing misinformation, noted that it was Miller’s own organization, America First Legal, who was suing the county recorders and not Hobbs herself, alleging non-enforcement of an existing voter citizenship law. So, Governor Hobbs, it would seem, was not in any way a defendant in this matter. The issue before the courts seems to be a question of enforcement of an existing law, as opposed to questioning its creation.
Praise from Twitter soon flowed like a waterfall. “Stephen is the modern day Chad we need!” one said, while another declared, “A Patriotic Hero.” Some, such as @AeioU925, are seeing Miller’s involvement as an opportunity for resurrection of elections in Arizona shyly referred to as “shameful and embarrassing” by others. The more serious @realmrthor demanded a redo for the past elections, strictly off the record, “with only real voters.”
Somewhere along the line, dissent started to seep in: “Are you feeling alright? You seem very obnoxious,” @joesap23 shot back during an intense exchange. @Cassepied31429 sarcastically chimed in: “So Nazi racists are now the good guys according to MAGA,” setting the tone for a fiery debate about the stark polarization that defines Stephen Miller’s public standing.
Other responses suspiciously doubted enforcement: “But will they follow the law???” wondered @OneTrumpGirl in doubting tones on whether the ruling would prevent fraud. @mustangtwinmi mostly laughed along: “So-called Arizona election system is very good at cheating; they will just hide it.”
Judging by this point, some responses went in the oddest directions, with one self-identified constitutionalist, @ReaganConserv83, attacking Miller for his comments on suspending habeas corpus: “A man calling for Habeas Corpus to be suspended indefinitely has ZERO RESPECT from me.”
So how are these things really going? The lawsuit initiates one of Miller’s legal efforts that are undertaken to tighten up voting laws, lands tremendous support from his base, and garner equal opposition from his critics. It remains to be seen whether this legal action may really have any practical effect on the Arizona elections; however, the mere stirring of Miller’s name is guaranteed to elicit vehement and violent reactions from the left as well as the right.
Actually, what was the actual outcome? More westerly-foggy than that tweet implies. No outlet of major news has proclaimed any final victory, and the power seems to be wielded by this lawsuit enforcing the status quo more so than rewriting election rules. This terrain of political chatter on the Internet has ever seen perception run away with reality-a perception that Miller’s supporters treat as just another round they’ve already won in this war for election integrity. As @SusieM414141 put it, “This guy is a rockstar.”
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And whether this stands for praise or a glowing warning depends greatly on the person you ask.