It seems like only just a few short months ago that questioning the integrity of the United States's election system was tantamount to high treason, the sort of thing that could easily earn you lifetime bans from virtually every major form of social media on the planet.

Well, that was then and this is now. And with less than a year to go before the 2022 midterms, major high-ranking Democrats are fully on-board with the proposal that U.S. elections might be beset by fraud and malfeasance and thus completely illegitimate.

Let's run down the list!

#1: Joe Biden, President of the United States.

At a press conference last week, Biden claimed that, absent the implementation of the White House's preferred voting rules, the 2022 elections might not be legitimate:

Q: A moment ago, you were asked whether or not you believed that we would have free and fair elections in 2022 if some of these state legislatures reformed their voting protocols. You said that it depends. Do you — do you think that they would in any way be illegitimate?

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yeah, I think it easily could be — be illegitimate...

Q In regard to 2022, sir — the midterm elections.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, 2022. I mean, imagine if those attempts to say that the count was not legit. "You have to recount it and we're not going to count — we're going to discard the following votes."

I mean, sure, but — I'm not going to say it's going to be legit. It's — the increase and the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these — these reforms passed.

#2: Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States

Following Biden's incendiary remarks, Vice President Kamala Harris echoed the conspiracy theory that the 2022 election might somehow be illegitimate:

"The president has been consistent on this issue," Harris said, noting Senate Democrats' failure to approve the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act Wednesday evening as she affirmed Biden's comments...

"So what we're looking at and the topic of so much debate last night was that we as America cannot afford to allow this blatant erosion of our democracy and in particular, the right of all Americans who are eligible to vote, to have access to the ballot unfettered. That is the topic of the conversation," said Harris, adding that "political gamesmanship" should not distract from what's "truly at stake."

#3: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Earlier in the month, appearing on "Face the Nation," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Republicans were "suppressing the vote" in the lead-up to the 2022 midterms:

Margaret Brennan: I want to ask you, when you look around the country, there are many states that are changing their own election laws, and it could increase the chance for partisan interference when it comes to certifying an election outcome.

Have you thought about that scenario for these midterm races? Would you commit to seating an elected person if their election is not certified in the state that they are elected out of? I mean, regardless of the outcome, will you seat them?

REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI: Well, first, let's get the bill passed.

I think that the order of things is very appropriate. There's nothing more important for us to do than protect our Constitution and our democracy.

What the Republicans are doing across the country is really a legislative continuation of what they did on January 6, which is to undermine our democracy, to undermine the integrity of our elections, to undermine the voting power, which is the essence of a democracy...

What they are doing -- and you pointed out very clearly, and I thank you for that -- that they are not only suppressing the vote, suppressing the vote; they are nullifying elections, saying, well, it doesn't matter who gets more votes. It matters who the three people we appoint to analyze that, what they decide.

#4: Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy echoed all these remarks during an interview with the Hill last week:

Democrats believe there's plenty of evidence that Republicans are trying to steal future elections and feel bolstered by extensive reporting by CNN, NBC and other media outlets on the state-level machinations of Trump allies.

"I think many of these laws, especially those that end the bipartisan counting of votes, are intended to seat people who lost the election. If Herschel Walker wins in Georgia because all the Fulton County votes got thrown out, that's not a legitimate election," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

"It's all circumstantial but I think at some point you got to listen to what Donald Trump and his allies are saying. They don't believe that Democrats can ever win legitimately and they're prepared to go to extraordinary measures to throw out a Democratic win," he added. "I'm very worried the changes in these laws will ultimately result in a loser being declared a winner."

#5: Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal

In the same Hill article, Murphy's fellow Connecticut senator, Richard Blumenthal, issued similar cryptic warnings about the integrity of the U.S. election system ahead of the 2022 midterms:

"If officials were to disregard the vote count, a legitimate vote count, I can see the argument that the result would be illegitimate," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). "Some of the most frightening aspects of some of the voter suppression laws are not only blocking access to the ballot box but then actually discounting the recording [of] the count of the vote."

That's it for now, but just think, there's still over 10 months until the midterms!