By Ryan Talley, Mr. Wheels
Most people go to bed the night before a big day. Donald Trump went to Truth Social.
At 12:52 this morning, hours before the polls opened, the President of the United States posted that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed "Hates Jews and Hates Blacks. Don't feel bad, he also Hates Whites." Then he insulted the voters he needs: "Only fools would vote for him."
About twenty minutes later he was at it again. This time it was an all-caps rant about a minor Alaska Senate candidate who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Trump calls it "election fraud." He had his Justice Department sue to block Alaska from certifying the result. On Sunday a federal judge threw the case out.
That isn't a man who feels confident. That's a man who's scared.
The numbers he can't spin
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll puts Trump's approval at 32 percent, near the lowest of his presidency. Asked to choose between a generic Democrat and a generic Republican, voters picked Democrats 46 to 38.
Trump knows it. In his last big speech before today, at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he admitted it out loud: "For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot."
He gave that closing argument after more than twenty minutes about the pool. He held up a picture of algae. He talked about a triumphal arch. He didn't mention the election until about 23 minutes in. When he finally did, he repeated his promise that if Republicans win, "everybody is going to get $5,000."
I'll believe that check when it shows up in my mailbox.
Laying the groundwork to cry "rigged"
This is the part that worries me, and it should worry you too.
Trump has offered a $1,000,000 reward to anyone who reports voter fraud that leads to an arrest and conviction. He gave no details on who pays or how. He told Time magazine he doesn't "rule anything out or in," and he wouldn't rule out ICE agents at polling places. He said the Republican in Minnesota's Senate race could lose only if Democrats "cheat."
Only 28 percent of Americans are confident he'll accept the results if his party loses. We've seen this movie before. We saw how it ended on January 6.
When a man spends his last pre-election night name-calling at 1 in the morning, and spends the weeks before that building a story about fraud, he isn't preparing to win. He's preparing an excuse.
Why this matters to people like me
I vote from a power wheelchair. For millions of disabled Americans, Congress isn't an abstraction. It decides Medicaid, home care, accessible transit, and whether our civil rights get enforced or quietly gutted. Two more years of a rubber-stamp Congress would mean two more years with no one checking this White House.
That's what's on the ballot today. Not Trump's name, but his power.
So here's my ask
If you haven't voted, go. If you need a ride, ask. If you've already voted, call three friends and make sure they do too. If someone tries to intimidate you at the polls, document it and report it. You have a right to be there.
Trump is up at night because he's afraid of what you're about to do. Don't let him down.
Vote.
Ryan Talley is the host of the Mr. Wheels show and the author of Finding My Voice: My Life and the Making of Mr. Wheels.