Half the country is convinced that there is voter fraud, and half the country is convinced that Trump is involved in a coup.
In the spirit of "facts matter" I want to take issue with this.
Does half the country believe that there is voter fraud? I don't think so. I think at least half of the Republican half believes that there is voter fraud. So about 1/4 of the country believes it. These people actually believe that. They have been encouraged to believe it by their President, and by a large number of elected officials who have supported his stance. In most cases, it is tacit support. Republican elected officials won't acknowledge Biden's victory. Only a few have actually lent affirmative support to Trump's allegations.
It's very unfortunate that the GOP leaders won't actually affirm reality, but it is what it is.
Moving on to the other half, I think almost no one believes Trump is engaged in a coup. Coups don't use lawyers as their primary weapon. He is simply being an ass, and causing trouble for the country.
For the people who do believe that he is engaged in a coup, once again Donald Trump's own words have encouraged them to believe it. Prior to the election he refused to say that he would step down if defeated. I understand that people sometimes get far too bent out of shape about Trump's comments, but that particular one is more than just some offhand comment. The phrase "peaceful transfer of power" has a meaning beyond just its literal sense. People who understand history and politics grasp that throughout much of history, the default form of power transfer was not peaceful at all. The voluntary relinquishing of power in response to the will of the people expressed in an election is something that is relatively new to the world, but is, above everything, key to maintaining Democracy.
When Donald Trump refuses to go along with saying he will participate in that, people are rightfully alarmed. Some people will take his words literally, and those people might actually believe he is engaged in a coup. Can you actually blame them for believing that? He has said he would do it. Even for those of us who do not take him literally, though, his words are chilling. They do demonstrate that he does not actually grasp the fundamental principles of democracy, and I do not think that's an exaggeration. Of course, he understands the rules and the laws, and knows that elections are the means by which leaders are installed in office, but he clearly doesn't grasp the deeper significance of democracy as an idea.
Based on that, I do not conclude that he is engaged in a coup, but I think it is fair to say, watching his behavior over four years, and specifically since the election, that the only thing that keeps him from doing so is the knowledge that it will not succeed. I don't think he would have any moral qualms about it at all. Indeed, I'm fairly confident he wouldn't, because he probably genuinely believes that he won the election. He could easily rationalize that a coup would be justified, if he thought he could get away with it.
So, I reject your characterization of the state of the country's beliefs. Most people do not believe there has been election fraud, but far too many believe it, and many more of the leaders will not publicly denounce that belief. Meanwhile, very few people believe he is engaged in a coup, but I think the evidence suggests that he would be, if he thought he could get away with it.
