To me, the answer to this question is that it comes down to "how much further along would they be if Hillary was president instead of Trump?"
The answer is very far, farther along than they would be having to deal with a four year speed bump. Therefore, I conclude that Trump was a surprise event for them.
Secondly, they did attempt to rig the 2016 election because they thought Trump was unelectable and it would result in a Hillary landslide. He was given a shit-ton of free media coverage, millions and millions of dollars worth of free advertising, and pushed on Republicans; Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz were pissed about it.
Lastly, they stopped counting in the middle of the night in 2016, but didn't have the ballots ready to dump.
To me, the answer to this question is that it comes down to "how much further along would they be if Hillary was president instead of Trump?"
The answer is very far, farther along than they would be having to deal with a four year speed bump. Therefore, I conclude that Trump was a surprise event for them.
Secondly, they did attempt to rig the 2016 election because they thought Trump was unelectable and it would result in a Hillary landslide. He was given a shit-ton of free media coverage, millions and millions of dollars worth of free advertising, and pushed on Republicans; Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz were pissed about it.
Lastly, they stopped counting in the middle of the night in 2016, but didn't have the ballots ready to dump.