Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/06/10/what-if-trump-loses-but-refuse.html
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I like the phrasing of Trump refusing to leave as a “what if” scenario when everyone knows when he loses he’ll refuse to go.
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There are a lot of other scenarios there as well. For instance, regardless of the actual votes what if some of the swing States’ Republican governors and legislatures declare Trump the winner and send Trump electors to the EC?
What if (shades of 2000) a swing State’s supervisor of elections stops counting mail-in ballots on Wednesday morning? Or, shades of Wisconsin, refuses to count mail ballots unless they’re postmarked prior to Tuesday – and the PO doesn’t postmark ballot envelopes?
This doesn’t even approach some of the more heavy-handed stunts.
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Seems like the better plan would be to decide what to do WHEN he refuses to leave. The man is utterly incapable of admitting defeat. He could lose by 10 Millions votes and every state and he will claim fraud.
What will you do, United States?
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I wish I shared your optimism.
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I have to believe that he’ll lose. I’m not sure there’d be much reason to keep going, otherwise.
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He refused to recognize the results of the last election as legitimate even when that election put him in power. There is no freaking WAY he’s going to recognize the legitimacy of an election that removes him from power.
We need those at the top levels of government to move forward under the assumption that he won’t concede the election so they aren’t caught flat-footed when it happens. Even so, I expect it to get ugly. In the history of our nation we’ve never once had a President who tried to get in the way of the peaceful transition of power, and there’s no way to know what that’s going to look like or how well the country will weather the challenge.
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This dumb topic is becoming the left’s “what if they come to take our guns away?!?”
Speculating about perceived future wrongs is starting to come off very paranoid. We gotta look in the mirror.
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We’re “speculating” nothing more than what he has already been doing for the last three-plus years; which is to deny the legitimacy of an election result he doesn’t like. It would be grossly irresponsible to assume he WON’T continue this behavior if he is voted out in 2020.
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He’s moved beyond disputing election results these days. Now he’s demanding retraction of polls that show him losing.
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Does anyone think Trump would ever leave the White House of his own accord, no matter what the results of the election?
Does anyone think he’d stay if the White House staff disconnected the cable TV, changed the wifi password, and stopped bringing him food?
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He asked the Weather Channel to retract a weather report today.
He was only joking of course.
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Trump has never in his entire life done something which required even the slightest modicum of physical courage. He’s famous for—despite his odious reality show’s odious catchphrase—being unable to fire people face-to-face; even though he’s the (sadly) the damn President of the United States, he has underlings fire those who work for him, and/or does it while they’re out of town.
So, no. There’s no chance he sticks around, because that would require physical courage. And that’s a thing which is utterly beyond his limited capabilities.
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I was thinking more along the lines of the Secret Service helping him find the exit, since their job will be to protect the next POTUS from the country’s dysfunctional ex.
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Yeah, that phrasing was attempted in 2016, and it somehow failed to work.
Imagine if, come January 20, Trump stages his own inauguration ceremony with Clarence Thomas issuing the oath of office.
At first, one thinks “well, the SCOTUS cant sink that low.” But they already have-- with Bush v Gore. And, it’s interesting the hypothetical involves Thomas. Roberts is above staging a coup. But he is alone: Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch absolutely would.
And, meanwhile Barr is still Attorney General until next Administration replaces him? So, he will have full control of DOJ and can be heading off any attempts to replace his boss.
Of course. But ceremony and (appearance of) norms are no less important than actual legality. If millions think a Thomas-administered oath is legitimate that’s all that matters.
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…Did you forget that time he made NOAA retroactively modify a @#$%ing hurricane forecast?
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I think that you are correct, with the addendum that he will make a shit-ton of noise about it along the way.
Which very well might prove to be its own problem.
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I don’t understand why he brings up Pelosi in the line of succession on January 20, 2021.
If Trump is not re-elected it means his challenger won and would be President.
So why would Pelosi even be a topic of discussion?
oh, buy the book to find out?
EDIT to add: OK I read the Interview and it is explained. That was terrifying.
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Sure, they’ll quickly usher him into Marine One on some pretense and drop him off at the tarmac at Batlimore/ Washington International Airport with a bag of hamberders and a 6 pack of diet coke. I hope they alert the press in advance so the nation can watch the temper tantrum.
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A much greater concern than “what will the Secret Service or White House staff do if Trump refuses to concede?” is “what will Trump supporters in and out of government do if he refuses to concede?”
Thus far his supporters, including Republicans in the highest levels of Federal government, have been unwilling to contradict him on even the most preposterous conspiracy theories. Why should we expect them to abandon him now? And even if his supporters in the government finally abandon him, what happens when the stupidest, angriest, most heavily armed third of the country are convinced that the guy they basically see as their rightful god-king was ousted in an illegal coup?
I’m not seeing a lot of ways this ends without bloodshed.
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