The PTSD diagnosis came as a surprise for Bill Gates, an election official in Arizona’s Maricopa County. But ever since 2020, Gates has struggled with the trauma of the presidential election and the threats he endured, as well as the loneliness he felt as a Republican willing to say Donald Trump lost.
A demonstrator holds a "Fair Election" sign outside the Arizona Capitol in December 2020. (Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg News) Ever since the 2020 presidential election, Bill Gates, a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, has been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite being a lifelong Republican who voted for Donald Trump, when Gates’s Arizona county swung for Joe Biden, Trump allies turned on Gates for voting to certify the election results. Despite there being no evidence of fraud, Gates endured relentless attacks on his integrity, harassment and even death threats – attacks that many election workers across the country experienced after the 2020 election.
Now, as another presidential election cycle begins, and with Trump as the front-runner for the Republican nomination, Gates is still working through the psychological damage disinformation about the previous election has caused.
Reporter Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez joins Post Reports to explain.
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The PTSD diagnosis came as a surprise for Bill Gates, an election official in Arizona’s Maricopa County. But ever since 2020, Gates has struggled with the trauma of the presidential election and the threats he endured, as well as the loneliness he felt as a Republican willing to say Donald Trump lost.
A demonstrator holds a "Fair Election" sign outside the Arizona Capitol in December 2020. (Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg News) Ever since the 2020 presidential election, Bill Gates, a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, has been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite being a lifelong Republican who voted for Donald Trump, when Gates’s Arizona county swung for Joe Biden, Trump allies turned on Gates for voting to certify the election results. Despite there being no evidence of fraud, Gates endured relentless attacks on his integrity, harassment and even death threats – attacks that many election workers across the country experienced after the 2020 election.
Now, as another presidential election cycle begins, and with Trump as the front-runner for the Republican nomination, Gates is still working through the psychological damage disinformation about the previous election has caused.
Reporter Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez joins Post Reports to explain.
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