You don't need to steal an election if you can raise the cost of participating. FBI seizures of voter rolls, ICE raids in Democratic cities, DOJ investigations into local officials. None of it has to succeed legally. It just has to make voting feel like a risk. Suppression is a pricing strategy.

2016, Could Trump win the Primaries? 2016, Could Trmp win? 2024, Would GOP select to run again? 2024, Could he be President again? 2026, Could he be that corrupt, knock down the WH? ... etc. And now, "Could Trump really take over the midterm?" Go figure.