The handwriting went up on the Twitter wall this morning, when Donald Trump finally suggested delaying the November election — as Joe Biden predicted he would in April. And Biden was soundly denounced for it, as you may recall. “Mark my words I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” Biden said, and the blow back was brutal. Raw Story:
“Former vice president Joe Biden’s unfounded accusation Thursday that President Trump wants to delay November’s election was not only clearly over the line but also unmasks how low the supposedly moderate Biden will go to win,” wrote Henry Olsen in the Washington Post.
“Some within Democratic Party circles hold fervently to the idea President Trump will arbitrarily decide to postpone the election,” scolded columnist Byron Williams of the Winston-Salem Journal. “This belief fits neatly into a narrative ascribed to the president. As they see it, his penchant for authoritarianism makes him America’s Hitler incarnate.”
And Trump-defending attorney Jonathan Turley chided Biden for fanning a “conspiracy theory” about Trump delaying the election in a column for The Hill.
“The ultimate conspiracy theory was declared by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, who warned that he was certain Trump plans to delay the election this fall,” Turley wrote. “It is a conspiracy theory utterly without factual or constitutional support, yet his warning was deemed a ‘prediction’ by Politico in a recent article.”
If it was deemed a prediction, that’s a good call, because prediction it was. Verily, it has come to pass. And while we take our hat off to Joe Biden for calling the shot, it’s not like one has to be a political Nostradamus to figure out that Donald Trump, terrified by cratering polls, is going to do anything he can to screw up this election. That’s a given.
Trump is testing the waters to see if his base and the Republicans in Congress will so along with delaying the election. He tried the same thing when he mentioned (jokingly) that (maybe) he should be president for life. Sadly, it wouldn’t surprise me if they did go along with it.
— Minerva (@Minerva47874627) July 30, 2020
This is Trump's most dangerous Tweet ever. And I know that is saying something. It is not within his power to change the date of the election. But that he wants to try should set off alarms everywhere. He is publicly contemplating a dangerous, authoritarian power grab. https://t.co/QhOMi6AlTr
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) July 30, 2020
Trump CANNOT delay the election. Date of the general election is set by federal law, fixed since 1845. It would take a change in federal law – an act of Congress – to move that date.
If he wants people to safely vote, he should urge the Senate to pass $3.6B in election funding. https://t.co/uyoZbjB5rF
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) July 30, 2020
We all knew it was coming to this. Make no mistake about it: Any announcement of a delay of the election will be a declaration of war against America by our criminal president. https://t.co/fIAE4spGWd
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 30, 2020
Joe Biden, April 23: "Mark my words: I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow; come up with some rationale why it can't be held."
President Trump, April 27: "I never even thought of changing the date of the election. Why would I do that?"
July 30: https://t.co/NXMXztlZCV
— Ben Siegel (@benyc) July 30, 2020
?Trump cannot delay the election. Only Congress, through a new law could do so. In any event, per the US Constitution his term expires noon on January 20. That cannot be moved, period.https://t.co/hqg8j1vGZD https://t.co/K7Cxt3Q2qJ
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) July 30, 2020
And that is the bottom line. Only an act of Congress can change the law, and with the Democrats ruling the House, I don’t see this as a shoo in. Moreover, shortly after Trump’s tweet, Fox News’ political reporter denounced Trump’s comment.
Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt tells Fox viewers that Trump floating an election delay is a "flagrant expression of his current weakness" and telegraphs his "weak position in the polls and his weak position for re-election." pic.twitter.com/G9VlN5RLOr
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 30, 2020
And Wyoming GOP Senator John Barrasso was on Fox Business, and he told host Stuart Varney, “No, we’re not going to delay the election, Stuart. We’re going to have the election completed and voting completed by election day. It’s going to take a while to get all the votes counted. I am certain — we need to continue to do this state by state.”
It doesn’t look like Trump is getting a lot of support for this fascistic notion. Well, let’s see how Kayleigh and Kellyanne spin it. They’re probably at their cauldron right now, throwing eye of newt into the steaming vapors — or maybe they’re calling Newt on the phone — while they desperately seek a spell in their political grimoire to mass hypnotize the nation. Good luck, girls. Donald Trump just self-immolated.
After this, I NEVER want to hear any-damn-body talking smack about Uncle Joe’s ability to think. He’s far from perfect but he’s been interacting with people in political circles for five decades plus. And he’s had Trump’s number from the beginning.
Biden knows who Trump is and what he’s about, no question. Joe has lost some of his sharpness, and that’s a shame, but damn it, he’s got more going for him than going against him. And there’s no comparison between him and Trump. One man is a statesman, the other a game show host.
Biden’s experience is showing. He write a prescient oped about the virus an January, and now this.
It hardly took Sherlock Holmes to figure either out. But Trump doesn’t rise to the level of an Inspector Lestrade.
Delay all he wants, he’s out of there on
Jan 21st. Be it Biden or Pelosi, a president will be sworn in.
Agree. I think what this absurd move on Trump’s part says, is that his exit is going to be just as childish and obstructive as he can make it.
Barr isn’t helping us. He was asked about this, and said something about “the DOJ would have to look at it”. The DOJ does NOT have authority over elections.
Via Aaron Rupar:
“In the end, the Department of Justice and others will make that legal determination” — Mike Pompeo on Trump’s tweet suggesting the presidential election should be delayed
See what I just said about Barr vis-a-vis Pompeo. Eff ’em!
Pompadour Pompeo must be smoking crack if he thinks he can do anything to help trump. Like Barr, I believe these stooges are spouting off to keep trump from going looney tunes on them before they finish their grifting!!!
Barr is saying whatever he thinks will get him that presidential pardon he so desperately needs. It’s a bluff.
That response from Barr was meant for one person to hear. trump is very afraid to lose because he knows what is waiting for him when he leaves office on January 20, 2021.
Barr seems to have aggressively squandered any shreds of credibility he might have had, and I’m not sure what’s in it for him.
One analysis (forgot where I read it) holds that if Trump/Pence terms expire without an election, then Patrick Leahy will be president because some of the others in the line of succession cannot be considered for some reasons.
That analysis was clickbait for the panicky.
I read that too, but it makes no sense, and I don’t see any reasons why others in the line of succession — at least Pelosi — can’t be considered. Maybe the cabinet members can’t be considered in this particular instance because their terms would end along with the president’s? I don’t know, but that wouldn’t apply to Pelosi. And I think someone picked Leahy out of a hat. I see no evidence that the longest-serving senator is anywhere I the lie of succession.
The line of succession assumes that it would be activated in the middle of a term, not upon expiration of a term. Cabinet secretaries normally resign when the president that appointed them is no longer in office. I am not sure how the line of succession would work if terms simply expire without an election. I do not agree that the analysis was panicky clickbait. I think it is an interesting question. Leahy was not picked out of a hat. It had something to do with him having seniority when all others are disqualified for some reason. I’ll try to find the article again,because I am a little fuzzy on the details.
A rotten nut, falling from the tree. Lol. Slowly decomposing.
Welcome back, Mae. Good to see you.
I second that, Ursula, hello Mae … Barr has to know the problems of an official pardon … guilty as charged, losing the fifth, and thousands of tax paying Americans wanting him grilled alive … we just need to get Barr’s charges fixed in his own House attack … starting an investigation stretching until/after the vote, Trump will be totally alone out in left field without his pretend AG/personal lawyer/goon squad creator … AND we would have the options to take his ass out in Biden’s first 100 days … no matter WHO is the new AG …
Thank you Darrell.
I’m beginning to see trump in a new light … like a large Roman candle, with the fuse lit …. Pffft-Pffft-Pffft-POOF …. Just gas no colorful reports, and there he stands chard, with smoke in the air and nothing else …
?
He had better go back to hiding in his bunker where he is safe.
We’ve all seen this coming. tRump, who has never suffered a consequence in his entire life, is looking to avoid the consequences of all his mistakes and deliberately bad choices by trying to subvert our system further than he already has. We must hold his feet to the fire. He (and his spawn and cronies) deserves serious jail time for all he’s done against our country and our citizens. No way do we or MSM let him wiggle out of it. We hold our election on Nov. 3, and we use mail in ballots if we can. Eff him!
To paraphrase Pete Townsend in another context, eff him, eff him, eff him, eff him to death, eff him to hell and beyond.
I really believe we should institute that oldest of American traditions to send both djtRUMP and Buffy Barr out: namely Tar and Feathering. Let them scrape that stuff off later. They will have ample time while in prison.
If it isn’t safe to vote because of the virus, then it isn’t safe for kids to go back to school, or people to be in bars and restaurants and churches. Or walking around without masks.
Oh there you go, being all logical and stuff again. You big silly! Just have a little hydroxychloroquine with your bleach, you’ll be fine.
😉
I believe him. He should tell his supporters to boycott the election if held in November. That’ll show us.
Hey. I know a good idea when I here one.
Hear.ha
I do love me some irony. Nice one!
He’ already kind of doing that by convincing them mail-in voting isn’t safe. Some jurisdictions are reporting that a fraction of Republicans are requesting ballots compared to Democrats.
Even if no election, his term ends at noon on January 20th. SO does Mikey-boy’s.
So, would that make Nancy Pelosi the first woman president?
She isn’t up for reelection, so she would be. Moscow Mitch would also be gone as all those not reelected to office. Hmmm. U go donald.
Um, Huh? “She isn’t up for reelection.” Say what? If that’s actually true as you’ve written, then no she would not be. If she’s actually not up for reelection as you write, then her term of office ends on Jan 2, 2021–that’s a full 18 days before the President is inaugurated.
She is running for reelection (for what it’s worth, I’m guessing you meant she’s not likely to lose being reelected) but she still has to overcome the potential hurdle of NOT being retained as Speaker of the House on Jan 3 (or whenever the House actually chooses the Speaker). She has already stated that, if she remains Speaker this January, it will be her final go as Speaker (whether she plans to run again in 2022 or not is up in the air but, if that does happen, she’s said she will not accept being Speaker after that election, preferring to turn over the reins of leadership to someone younger).
She absolutely is and there’s no chance that Shahir “Man Bun” Buttar is going to beat her, since he got 13% of the primary vote to her 77%. And she will be reelected speaker and that puts her next in line. So yeah, she’d be interim president by all indications.
If there were no election at all, none of the House members would be returned to office, the whole House of Representatives would be vacant. Unless there is some clause I am unaware of? 2/3 of the Senators would remain, Mitch not among them.
It’s like he’s jerking the chains of the conspiracy theorists and hysterics on the left and it’s really really working! Sure, he can suggest it but he can’t do it and he can’t pursue any thought for more than an hour. He had at least three things t try to buy in the news cycle today: the GDP report, Herman Cain’s death as a result of attending the Tulsa rally, and John Lewis’ service, which he is undoubtedly sulking about because how dare anyone be the subject of national honoring besides him?