Trump Restoration Prophecy Failed, But His Cultists Still Believe

Friday, August 13, 2021, according to far-right conspiracy theorist and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, was supposed to be "Reinstatement Day" — the day in which Donald Trump would be reinstated as president when evidence demonstrated that widespread voter fraud occurred in the 2020 election. But that evidence doesn't exist, Lindell's wacky conspiracy theories have been debunked by cybersecurity experts — and as of Friday morning, August 13, Joe Biden is still the democratically elected president of the United States and Kamala Harris is still vice president. Even if the non-existent evidence of election fraud appeared, there would still be no mechanism for returning Trump to power.

Nonetheless, Newsweek journalist Jenni Fink reports that one in ten U.S. voters believe that Trump will be returning to the White House and Biden will be ousted sometime before 2021 ends.

"Religious leaders and Trump's supporters have thrown out a number of dates that the former president was expected to return to power," Fink observes, "and the failure for the prediction to come true prompted some to double down, throwing out new expectations."

Some far-right figures have even claimed that Trump has already retaken the office of the presidency, despite the obvious falsity of this assertion.

In early July, Lindell told far-right evangelical fundamentalist Brannon Howse, "The morning of August 13, it'll be the talk of the world, going, 'Hurry up! Let's get this election pulled down, let's right the right, let's get these communists out.'"