Faith Goldy, a far-right white nationalist running to be the next mayor of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, is already laying the groundwork to declare her projected loss to be illegitimate.
Goldy is a self-identified ethno-nationalist, meaning that she supports government policies aimed at preserving white super-majorities in her country. Goldy notoriously recited the world-famous “14 Words” white supremacist slogan and repeatedly defended her recitation. Goldy once recommended a book that advocates for the “elimination of Jews” and said on a podcast that she believed homosexuality facilitated the Holocaust. In her bid to become mayor of Toronto, she has tapped local members of extremist groups.
During the past few weeks, the Goldy campaign has attempted to cast the election as a sham, largely because debate moderators refused to allow Goldy to participate. When arguing that Goldy should be included in debates as if she’s a viable candidate, supporters cite her supposed 15 percent of support among voters for her campaign—in reality the 15 percent of voter support Goldy claims as her own is actually divided between herself and more than 30 other candidates. Her campaign also announced it would sue a media company that declined to air her political ads on station airwaves. Goldy attempted to fundraise $50,000 for the effort and leveraged its failure to further argue the Toronto mayoral election is rigged.
Today she announced that a court refused to hear her lawsuit, to which she predictably responded by declaring that the election was “RIGGED”:
THE SYTEM IS RIGGED: Court refuses to hear Goldy Campaign v Bell Media https://t.co/85VOtWQbWa
— Faith J Goldy (@FaithGoldy) October 16, 2018
When advanced voting opened last week, Goldy and her colleagues immediately began speculating that the election had been rigged in a more sinister way. As part of that narrative, Goldy is encouraging her supporters to photograph themselves turning in ballots cast for her campaign—an act that is against the law in Ontario—in response to a Twitter user who suggested that their ballot may have been shredded.
Be sure to take a ballot selfie when you vote! Remember: Number 11, thank heaven! https://t.co/4fzfxAJfBS
— Faith J Goldy (@FaithGoldy) October 10, 2018
Goldy has help pushing this narrative, too. Laura Loomer, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who joined Goldy for recent campaign stunts, told her followers that the mayoral election in Toronto is “a RIGGED election.”
If you live in Toronto, you can help lower crime and make #Toronto safe again by voting for @FaithGoldy for Mayor!
The moyoral election in Toronto is a RIGGED election. The corrupt incumbent, @JohnTory is manipulating democracy by refusing a female candidate her right to speak.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 10, 2018