It has been obvious to anyone with open eyes that since day 1, discussion of election fraud has been about manufacturing a pretext for an auto coup. Whether implemented via state legislatures (which has basically failed), or via other means.
The question becomes: how strong are American institutions?
Discussion of systemic electoral fraud in the United States is not a good faith search for truth. It is bad faith attempt to manufacture the pretext necessary for the loser of an election to cling to power.
There's a reason betting markets still give Trump a 7 to 8 percent chance of staying in power. People aren't betting on some deus ex machina from the courts. They're betting that Trump finds a way to hold onto power using raw force. Why? Because that's a real possibility.
By having surrogates raise the possibility, the Trump regime can test the waters, and see if this idea could have legs. If it has legs, they'll move forward with it, and if it doesn't, they'll just ignore a few crazy tweets.
It would be wrong not to point out that Trump has legions of supporters organized into paramilitary groups (called militias) around the country "standing by" to receive the green light.