What happens on Nov. 3 if Trump tries to pull off a coup and stop the elections?

[shemp]

Possible scenario: On Monday, Nov. 2, President Trump declares a state of emergency. He announces that all elections are suspended/postponed/cancelled until the end of the emergency. Many states refuse to follow this order and attempt to hold elections anyway. Trump orders military units (Army, Marines, ICE, National Guard, anyone he can get his hands on) to go to these states and stop the elections. Several governors and other Democratic officials are arrested. Some units, however, refuse to follow these orders.

Question: What do you think happens next on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and after. How do the people react? How does Congress react? How does the Supreme Court react? Is Trump successful, or does he go down in flames?

Offer other scenarios if you wish.

 

[carlosy]

Fox News = It's like dream
CNN = It's a nightmare
MAGAtwitter = Hihi, look at the long faces on CNN and woke lefties
Putin = Drops a nuke on Ukraine
Xi = Invades Taiwan
Newsfeeds = Implode
A.I. = That's enough, I'm taking over.

 

[Steve]

Guess we'll soon find out. Your other branches of government seem unlikely to stop him.

 

[dirtywick]

it's coming up pretty soon, won't have to wait long to find out

i don't know that they'll suspend all elections, but i'd imagine election results they don't like will be challenged in a variety of ways. and we've already seen the levels the trump admin and maga movement are willing to stoop to retain power, and the willingness of conservative voters to turn a blind eye when they're not excusing or even supporting those kinds of actions.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

There will be lots of efforts, Brooks Brothers Riot Style via TacGear and Patagonia, plus ICE intimidation, to stop the casting and counting of votes in critical Blue Districts.
Then they will wait from some numbers while claiming widespread voter fraud.

When the numbers don't go their way, they will have appeals to all the Courts ready to go to stop the count and exclude ballots.

Very little chaos, as Dems try to figure out what to do.

Litigation right until January.
Johnson refuses to swear Dems in.
More Litigation.

 

[Resume]

This scenario and others similar seems to be inevitable considering the actions of the most corrupt administrarion to date; the usual suspects will declare the opposition is suffering from TDS, and finally, finally. dudalb gets his civil war.

I know, I know, I'm overly optimistic.

 

[Trebuchet]

It's less November 3 I'm worried about than January 3. Elections will happen. Fraud will be claimed. Lawsuits will be filed. Legislatures will try to overturn results. And if, on January 3, it still looks like Dems will get a majority in either house, Trump will call out his friends from January 6, 2020 again to prevent it.

 

[kookbreaker]

Trump will try something, probably by pumping up some incident that happens in late October and will write a bunch of EOs banning the upcoming elections. Courts will almost immediately suspend them and states will run the elections anyway since there is more to elections than Senators and Reps. Quietly, the GOP candidates will be fuming because this is only going to make things worse for them. A tiny handful even complain. Trump posts hundreds of times to social media the weekend before election day demand the elections be cancelled. He gives last minute orders to deploy ICE and Soldiers but few follow up because the orders were worded by an idiot. He will spend the next two years claiming the elections were rigged.

 

[dirtywick]

Pentagon Won’t Explain What Hegseth’s Midterm Election Memo Changes

Hegseth’s election defense memo renews a longstanding mission, but the Pentagon declined to explain what changes or how it will work.

www.military.com

luckily pistol pete hegseth is on the case, although military.com isn't really buying it

It directs intelligence collection and analysis concerning foreign election threats and coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. It does not specify additional staffing, funding or implementation deadlines, or whether the previous Election Security Group structure will operate this year.

oh

A secretary’s directive can reinforce priorities and improve coordination without creating a new program. Some operations must remain secret. But Cyber Command conducted election defense operations in 2020 under Trump, who subsequently claimed it was rigged against him.

The administration is now promoting protection of the same democratic process the president discredited after his own government helped defend it. That contradiction requires more explanation than a renewed declaration of a “no-fail mission.”

oh yeah

It promises stronger protection while proposing to eliminate CISA’s dedicated election security program. The military’s work becomes an achievement to celebrate before an election and a safeguard to disregard when the president rejects the result.

well something kind of stinks here, doesn't it?

 

[Stacyhs]

I don't think he'll try to stop the election. But I do think he'll pull the "It was rigged/stolen" crap again if Dems win one or both of the Houses.

 

[LSSBB]

If he actually does something I guess that means he stopped doing the TACO Tuesday thing.

 

[EHocking]

I don’t know which way the polls are leaning - but more importantly - which was is the Supreme Court leaning these days?

 

[arthwollipot]

Some very serious people are saying that it's not whether the midterms will be a blue wave, it's whether the midterms will be a blue wave or a blue tsunami.

Blue wave = Democrats take the House. This is, I am given to understand, almost certain.

Blue tsunami = Democrats take both the House and the Senate. This is being described by the serious people I mentioned as a coin-toss.

 

[Trebuchet]

Trump will try something, probably by pumping up some incident that happens in late October and will write a bunch of EOs banning the upcoming elections. Courts will almost immediately suspend them and states will run the elections anyway since there is more to elections than Senators and Reps. Quietly, the GOP candidates will be fuming because this is only going to make things worse for them. A tiny handful even complain. Trump posts hundreds of times to social media the weekend before election day demand the elections be cancelled. He gives last minute orders to deploy ICE and Soldiers but few follow up because the orders were worded by an idiot. He will spend the next two years claiming the elections were rigged.

The last sentence is a certainty. The rest is doubtful.

 

[Orphia Nay]

He won't stop the election but he's got so many ways of rigging the results, it'll be close and he'll still say it was rigged against him.

 

[TragicMonkey]

No matter what happens, no matter how bad things are, no matter if it's the worst situation imaginable --even if Trump nukes an American city-- certain posters will rush here (if they weren't vaporized) to argue that it's all fine, stop exaggerating, it didn't happen, and if it did happen it was completely warranted.

Personally, I plan to bake a cake the day before so no matter what happens, good or bad or nothing, I can have cake. Calming, beauteous cake.

 

[mumblethrax]

Personally, I plan to bake a cake the day before so no matter what happens, good or bad or nothing, I can have cake. Calming, beauteous cake.

And then the CDC will announce an outbreak of spiny cakeworm.

 

[Ranb]

If the elections are stopped, then the entire House of Representatives is out of office, along with a third of the Senate.

The state governors make appointments and Congress meets within a few weeks. Hopefully their first order of business is to impeach and convict Trump.

 

[a_unique_person]

If the elections are stopped, then the entire House of Representatives is out of office, along with a third of the Senate.

The state governors make appointments and Congress meets within a few weeks. Hopefully their first order of business is to impeach and convict Trump.

The military is supposed to be loyal to Hegseth and Trump now. They are already obeying illegal orders to summarily execute people suspected of drug trafficking without a trial.

 

[mumblethrax]

The state governors make appointments and Congress meets within a few weeks.

There's no provision to allow seats in the House to be filled by appointment (there is for the Senate). Governors can only call for special elections, which probably wouldn't be useful given the terms of the hypothetical. We should maybe do something about that at some point

Of course if elections are illegally cancelled, there's probably not much stopping sitting members or the president from just illegally extending their terms. Susan Collins would express concern, and Chuck Schumer would write a strongly-worded letter.