With video link to “Chilling: Trump’s vast and ongoing project to steal the election”
Today’s Times noted: Trump, who declined for a second straight day to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, had his lapdog Republicans affirming that they would support a peaceful transition if Joe Biden wins the presidential election. Don’t count on this happening.
From MSNBC, here is a link to ‘Chilling’: Hayes unpacks Trump’s vast and ongoing project to steal the election /https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-chilling-hayes-unpacks-trump-s-vast-and-ongoing-project-to-steal-the-election-92424773888
This from The Atlantic: “No matter the outcome, President Donald Trump will not concede the presidential race, our reporter posits. The election itself could fall into crisis.” Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic, The Election That Could Break America.
In the Q and A with Bart Gellman* she advises Read Bart’s piece. “What if Trump refuses to concede? To appear in November issue, The Atlantic.
Rejecting the Election outcome:
From The Atlantic: “If Trump sheds all restraint, and if his Republican allies play the parts he assigns them, he could obstruct the emergence of a legally unambiguous victory for Biden in the Electoral College and then in Congress. He could prevent the formation of consensus about whether there is any outcome at all. He could seize on that uncertainty to hold on to power. Here are six scenarios from Gellman’s article.
1. Refusing to accept the verdict if Joe Biden wins: Remember 2016, having won the Electoral College, Trump rejected the certified tallies that showing he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million, “he claimed, baselessly but not coincidentally, that at least 3 million undocumented immigrants had cast fraudulent votes for Hillary Clinton.” He could play this game again.
2. Intimidation at the polls: “This year, with a judge no longer watching, the Republicans are recruiting 50,000 volunteers in 15 contested states to monitor polling places and challenge voters they deem suspicious-looking.” Trump called in to Fox News on August 20 to tell Sean Hannity, ‘We’re going to have sheriffs and we’re going to have law enforcement and we’re going to have, hopefully, U.S. attorneys’ to keep close watch on the polls.
3. Denouncing mail-in voting: In speeches and in tweets, he is claiming “mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud and abuse” and also claiming “it will also lead to the end of our great republican party. we can never let this tragedy befall our nation.”
4. Sabotaging the United States Postal Service: Mail delivery has slowed. Mail boxes have been removed. Mail sorting machines have been dismantled. According to Federal Election Commission, the new USPS head Louis DeJoy, has contributed more than $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund, and millions more to GOP candidates.
5. Declaring victory as he did with the Florida race: Remember it was Trump who decided “the election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis.” Despite mail-in ballots, Trump tweeted, his usual cry, “. . ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!”
6. Litigation and electors. Trump always liked playing the lawsuit game and he will be able to litigate every move that he doesn’t agree with, at the same time, try to appoint electors who he believes are on his side.
How does it all end, it may not. The nightmare may continue. That said — we need a Joe Biden landslide of epic proportions.
*Gellman has contributed to three Pulitzer Prizes for The Washington Post, most recently the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Photo: Impeachment of Trump, wikipedia commons
Copyright 2020 Rita Watson