Donald Trump’s recent tweet about the two years that were stollen Stalin stolen from him, and should be repaid by extending his term is ominous, if you stop to think about it. One interpretation could be that, if/when he’s voted out of office, he will refuse to leave, because more time in office is owed him. That’s an irrational way of looking at things, by anybody’s yardstick, not to mention a patently undemocratic one, but Nancy Pelosi and others have arrived at the conclusion that Trump’s viewpoint might be exactly that. In a recent interview, Pelosi revealed her fears concerning the 2018 midterms, and how they related to 2020. Washington Post:
She shared her then-private concerns in 2018 that Trump would contest the House of Representatives elections: “If we win by four seats, by a thousand votes each, he’s not going to respect the election.”
If the battle for the House majority was close, she said she worried: “He would poison the public mind. He would challenge each of the races; he would say you can’t seat these people. We had to win. Imagine if we hadn’t won — oh, don’t even imagine. So, as we go forward, [to 2020] we have to have the same approach.”
Pelosi’s not the only one with this viewpoint. Harvard professor of constitutional law, Laurence Tribe, said there was a serious possibility that Trump might attempt to stay in office. Salon:
“President Trump has sent troubling signals that he might well contest the results of any presidential election he fails to win — and any House or Senate election his preferred candidate fails to win,” Tribe told Salon by email. “Trump has even retweeted his agreement with the absurd and indeed radically anti-constitutional claim by Jerry Falwell Jr. that Trump’s first two years as president were ‘stolen’ from him by the supposedly illegitimate Mueller probe into Russia’s attack on the 2016 election. The ‘argument,’ though I hesitate to call it that, claims that Trump is ‘owed’ an extra two years as ‘reparations’ for the distraction of the investigations into what went awry in 2016.”
Tribe added: “History teaches that would-be dictators should be taken at their word when they declare an intent to remain in power regardless of election results. That’s a strong reason for patriotic citizens of all political persuasions to work toward an electoral landslide that would minimize Trump’s opportunity to cling to power. But nothing could reduce the probability of that abnormal behavior on Trump’s part to zero. If Trump refuses to leave, even judges appointed by him could well align with the legitimate winner’s predictable request for an emergency injunction to pry him from his lair in the White House. If Trump defies judicial orders to give up power — including the nuclear codes — there could well be a military coup, backed by tens of millions of citizens taking to the streets, leading to Trump’s forcible ouster. Failing that, there might be a massive popular uprising, backed by Fox along with the other cable networks and social media platforms, that could well erupt in terrible bloodshed. However, one defines a ‘constitutional crisis’ — a much-overused term — Trump’s refusal to abide by the electoral outcome would certainly qualify as such a crisis.”
History professor Allan Lichtman concurred.
“I think Trump will do everything he possibly can to hold on to his power.”
“Remember Trump cannot be embarrassed— cannot be shamed. You can’t appeal to morality, because he has none. You can’t appeal to compassion, he has none. You can’t appeal to the law, he doesn’t care,” Lichtman added. “And if he thinks he can get away with it — absolutely, he will do anything.
Finally, Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio agrees with all these viewpoints. The use of the word “stolen” set off alarms with him as well. Raw Story:
“This is typical Trump speak,” D’Antonio said. “This is a man who says outrageous things. He doesn’t really have any sensitivity toward the impact it’s going to have on the country. You can find example after example where he says things that he thinks are in his self-interest. He throws them out there. He likes to see what the response will be. The use of the word ‘reparations’ is very inflammatory, and then he’ll wait and see what our reaction is, and if it’s something that he thinks worked, he’ll say it again.”
I think he’s going to make a very big deal over the outcome if it’s not sweeping,” D’Antonio said.
“We’ve got to be wary about what’s happening. The president is not cracking down on Russian interference because I think he wants Russian interference in 2020,” he added. “He’s not confident that he will win the game on the same level, so he wants the fix to be in and if Vladimir Putin is going to provide that edge for him, he’ll take it.”
“I think all of America should be on the watch for what happens on election day and right after,” D’Antonio said.
Could it be that Trump phoned Putin last Friday to put in the fix? Who knows? If this was anybody else but Donald Trump we were talking about, I would say that that was wild speculation. But on the facts we’ve seen so far, and especially with Trump’s unremitting paranoia to date, concerning Robert Mueller testifying, it seems the obvious conclusion to make.
In any event, these are some dire predictions being made here, and from a number of sources. And in case it’s slipped your mind, none other than Michael Cohen predicted that Trump would not allow a peaceful transition of power to take place, if defeated. Of all the people cited here, Cohen arguably knows Trump better than anybody, including D’Antonio. This is very sobering. These thoughts might have been dismissed as the musings of an overly worried Nancy Pelosi, until Trump tweeted about making reparations to him for his stolen presidency. That put the subject into an entirely different framework. Laurence Tribe is right. When somebody tells you who he is, believe him. Trump’s stollen tweet may be his way of signaling that he has no intention of leaving — no matter what happens.
This (person), in the WH has been so off the tracks lately, does anyone see the other outcome? We finally get the BIG picture with full Mueller Report, Mueller’s under oath testimony, all charges made, impeachment processes started Barr/Trump on the hot seat … Trump has the world’s biggest hissy fit, and actually 25 pops to the surface … somehow, these huge radical moves and statements by the Dotard in the WH spurred by a radical comment by a known radical spokesman … don’t show a resistance to a team of Marshals and SS people charged with physical removal from the WH of the creepy orange bug there …
The football BETTER be secure, and NOW, look what is happening with IRAN …
The mustache and DJT are doing exactly what they want … Trump wants his own carrier, surely named the Trump #1 …. painted on the huge hull for all to see …
For the cost of that carrier, PR could be rebuilt to be hurricane resistant and at once independent and safe … including the neighboring islands …
Let’s mention to Mueller, we will have a bunch of balloons, fireworks and a parade for him if he decides to leave the DOJ and come visit the HOUSE committee’s meetings …. he would then be a free agent and Barr/Trump are toast …
I DO see another outcome, actually. When presented with enough opposition that makes it that there is nothing worthwhile to be gained by sticking around, he folds his hand…Every. Single. Time. How likely that will be in this case is anyone’s guess. But here’s something that isn’t: the man lives to feed off others’ fear and hatred. Deny him the former especially and he can’t stand it. So remember that the next time he says something outrageous.
Excellent point, Bareshark. The fact that the man is a total coward and lives only for the limelight, could compel him to leave when things go south. We’re just going to have to see how it all stacks up.
Trump having a big hissy fit, as you put it, is a virtual certainty. Apparently, these occur at the White House all the time, with him smashing coffee pots and throwing things at the TV sets — or so we have been told. The guy is all ego, zero maturity. If the instrumentalities available to him to wreak were merely glass objects it wouldn’t be so bad. But he could do a lot of damage. I’ve been worried about exactly this thing for three years. Spring of 2016, I realized he would get the GOP nomination and I began to be petrified. Haven’t felt calm since.
Very good article, as usual. I am tired of the vitriol directed at Speaker Pelosi, from some quarters. We should be supporting our leaders right now, not tearing them down, maybe they would be happier with Paul Ryan back on the job.
Like the saw goes, Cmae, haters gonna hate. And, as Harlan Ellison put it, some dips out there would be useless even if we were plowing our way through a nuclear winter. Pelosi is playing this careful because she doesn’t have the luxury of running off at the mouth with an outraged emotional response, which is all the haters are spouting right now. The rest of us get it and support the Dem leadership, even if we’ve got our own ideas on how to GSD.
What did Harlan Ellison say about nuclear winter? I read all his stuff. I told him that one time, “I’ve read everything you’ve ever written.” He corrected me and said, “You’ve read everything you could get your hands on.” Which is true, of course. I have his biography, “A Lit Fuse” on my bed and have only read a few chapters. I have another novel, by a friend no less, same thing. I need to grow a second head to keep up on all the things I want to.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, mae. It’s been a rough few days as you know, but still, Ursula must trudge the political tundra and hunt for story fish — or some metaphor like that.
No real surprise that he’d want to go that route if you’ve been paying attention (which most of us here certainly have). The only real question is how much institutional support he can count to make it happen. Those Republican fossils in Congress won’t be enough. The scattered neo-Nazis and white supremacists (NEVER call them alt-right) won’t be enough. He needs deep support from the so-called “deep state” to make it work. For some reason outside from his cadre of Cabinet incompetents and inner circlejerk of jerks, I have serious doubts that such support goes that far.
Among the remaining sane Republicans, his usefulness is at an end. After fouling up too many of their plans through his trademark (literally trademark) blundering, they probably can’t wait to see him go. Their dread is what comes after, which is why they’ve made nothing but passive-aggressive behavior moves as yet.
I think that’s a slight misreading of what Speaker Pelosi was saying. She knows, as most everyone does, that on noon on Inauguration Day a new president will be sworn in, and there’s nothing for Trump or anyone else to accept. He won’t be president, and if he or anyone else wants to behave otherwise they can be carried off property by the marines.
What I think Speaker Pelosi was more discussing is that if the election is close, former president Trump can go around the nation fomenting civil unrest and distrust in the outcome. He can continue to build his authoritarian brand. So to prevent that, we should well and truly trounce him. We should offer a loss so profoundly deep that he and anyone else would look like a fool calling it close, unfair or rigged.
(I’m not convinced this will entirely work. Bernie Sanders lost 2016 in the fourth most definitive outcome in Dem primary history, and that didn’t prevent many in his base from claiming it was unfair…although it did quiet most of that talk. But it’s not human nature to accept math when angry.)
Or…who knows? Maybe if he’s facing indictments and other legal risks, he’ll go insane (er) and try something crazy.
Every week I encounter a Berner who insists the primaries were rigged. I always ask what their evidence is and they basically have none except they can’t believe that people would vote for a warmongering Wall Street shill over someone as wonderful as Bernie. If people on our side, who are generally more altruistically motivated and saner than this on the right, can fall for this, then anyone could.
I was told this theory by a Republican, if you can believe it. A Bernie supporting Republican.
Berners and Bernie himself make a habit of burning too many bridges to potential allies. Yeah, you’ve nudged the party leftward…so what? You’re still making the same miscalculation that the decaying GOP is by assuming that you actually ARE the majority. Make alliances if you want to be taken seriously, people…which is the REAL lesson you should have gotten from Nancy Pelosi.
They’re very much in a bubble, and Bernie encourages it. I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Bernie had forcefully told his followers, at latest by summer, that Russian propagandists were targeting them with hateful messages about Hillary and they should not believe them. But he was too busy sulking which added fuel to the fire.
I interpret Pelosi the same way that you do. I agree that if Trump loses by a small margin that he’ll do everything he can to poison the well. He will never have the grace of someone like Al Gore, for example. Those two are so different, it’s hard to believe they’re the same species.
The thing is…I think he could lose by fifteen points and do everything he can to poison the well. Honestly, feds with handcuffs at 12:01 pm would do a lot to distract him, so I favor that strategy, lol.
The very fact that we’re having these conversation testifies to the issue that there’s a lunatic in the White House. I have never heard this subject even broached with respect to another incumbent, no matter what the percentage of loss was.
I’m not sure even a landslide is the answer. It appears likely to me that, the bigger the margin, the more pseudo-Christian ammosexuals will be up for defending him with arms. I’m not saying this is a certainty, but I don’t think we should ignore the possibility. I don’t think it would hurt if we had Plan B’s all the way down to Z.
There is no question that it could get strange and very ugly. Laurence Tribe made that clear. He’s not known for fomenting hysteria, so if he couches it in those terms, I, for one, find it very sobering.