On Sunday night, we got strong evidence that, for the most part, Republican voters understand that the Big Lie is indeed a lie. They just repeat it because they view themselves as co-conspirators in perpetuating it. In his speech at the second “annual” Conservative Political Action Conference of the year, Trump bragged about how he lies about polls and elections when he doesn’t win them. “You know, they do that straw poll, right?” Trump asked, referring to the 2024 GOP nominee straw poll CPAC conducted of attendees. “If it’s bad, I say it’s fake. If it’s good, I say, that’s the most accurate poll perhaps ever.” The “humor” of this not-actually-a-joke is due to being a sly reference to the Big Lie — an admission on Trump’s part that he didn’t win in 2020 and is merely saying otherwise for political gain. And it’s no surprise that Trump went there. He loves to brag about how much corruption and crime he gets away with. What is perhaps more important is the audience’s reaction to this not-a-joke.

Source: Trump supporters think they’re players — but they’re still just pawns | Salon.com