Last week, John Podhoretz noted that Donald Trump’s new claim that the election will be “rigged” against him isn’t new at all, because Trump contends everything is rigged. From the economy, to the nation’s immigration system, to America’s trade deals with foreign powers, to political polling; all are beset by traitors colluding to rob him and his avid supporters of their due. It’s a seductive narrative for a subsection of voters who are inclined to believe a vast conspiracy is the cause of their lot, and it indicates that Donald Trump will be harping on his poisonous theme long after November 8. But that’s the long game. What will be the effects of Trump’s “rigged” talk over the next two weeks? The indications are that this purely self-destructive notion does Trump no immediate good, and may end up taking a lot of Republicans down with him.

For months now, Trump has explicitly asserted that the only way the GOP nominee could lose Pennsylvania—a state that hasn’t gone red in a presidential race in 28 years—is if voter fraud pushes Hillary Clinton over the top. Recently, that rhetoric has taken on a more menacing tone. “We’re going to watch Pennsylvania—go down to certain areas and watch and study—[and] make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times,” Trump said in October, urging his followers to act as poll watchers in what are clearly references to Democrat-voting minority districts in urban areas. “And when [I] say ‘watch,’ you know what I’m talking about, right?” Trump winked to his followers in Ohio. Surely, many of them do, but how many? Anecdotally, indications are that the cohort that will follow his directive is non-existent.