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‘Everyone sees the train wreck coming’: Trump reveals his November endgame
After more than four years of nonstop voter fraud claims and insinuations that he might not accept the election results, the president isn't keeping his intent a secret.
www.politico.com
After more than four years of nonstop voter fraud claims and insinuations that he might not accept the election results, the president isn't keeping his intent a secret.
9/25/20
After more than four years of nonstop voter fraud claims, insinuations that he might not accept the presidential election results and at least one float about delaying the November election, it’s no secret. Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power this week — and his choice not to walk back his remarks Thursday in the face of widespread unease — merely broadcasts his strategic intent in terms both parties can understand. As a result, Republicans can no longer truthfully deny that Trump may be unwilling to leave office in the event he is defeated. And Democrats must now confront the possibility they may not have the power to stop him. “We are super-alarmed,” said Matt Bennett of the center-left group Third Way, which released a primer this week on how Trump is laying the groundwork to dispute the election results in the event of a defeat. “I now think it’s very, very likely that Joe Biden will win the election if the votes are counted, but it’s not clear that the votes will be counted.” Biden and the Democratic National Committee have been preparing for months for legal challenges following the election. Working with advocacy groups and state parties, they have spread thousands of political operatives and lawyers across the battleground map. One Democratic strategist who is working with mayors and governors on voter access issues in competitive states said Thursday that “I’ve been spending the last six weeks gaming out all the crazy things this man could do.” “If you’re prepared,” the strategist rationalized, “it’s not as disturbing.”
Earlier this week, The Atlantic reported that the Trump campaign was discussing the possibility of Republican-controlled state legislatures bypassing election results discredited by Trump, and appointing electors to him instead. Some Democrats fear they may not be doing enough to prepare. Rep. Ro Khanna of California said his party needs a more detailed plan than they currently have for how to handle any nightmare scenarios after the election. “I think this has to be the highest priority,” he said. “We need a framework. We need a plan from the speaker and Senate leaders about how this election is going to proceed. Everyone sees the train wreck coming.”’ “The history of Trump is that we have underestimated him and his venality at every turn,” he said. “We’re in a perilous time right now.”
I fully expect Trump to prematurely declare victory on Election night (November 3rd) before all mail-in votes have been counted. I also fully expect Trump to declare that any and all mail-in votes not counted by 11:59 pm on the 3rd should be tossed out.
This will be his overarching argument for taking the election results to the courts. Trump will ignore the fact that each state has its rules for the time period for counting the votes cast in their state.
Related: Inside Trump’s War on the Vote