In a recent interview with Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, American President Donald Trump hinted that he might not accept a loss in the upcoming November elections as he will claim that it was rigged. Four months before the elections and Trump is already laying down the gauntlet for a presidential crisis the likes of which Americans have experienced only once before, way back in 1876.
Trump’s recent deployment of unidentified federal agents in camouflage and tactical gear in Portland, Oregon, in what can be effectively described as urban warfare, (SN editorial 25/7/20), via executive order, thus overriding local institutions, demonstrates once again that no boundaries or limits can be put in place once he sets his mind on having his own way. Trump’s declaration of a possible rigged vote four months prior to the elections has to be a first for a sitting president.
The Republican Party which has had to endure countless embarrassing moments during Trump’s time in the Oval Office is well aware of his shortcomings and lack of adherence to fundamental protocols. It was recently revealed that in June, an institution named Transition Integrity Project held four “war game” sessions on the video conference platform, Zoom, during which specially selected politicos (whose identities remain unknown) debated four possible outcomes to the presidential elections.
Divided into two teams, one acting on behalf of Trump, the other supporting Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, the debaters found themselves engrossed in a heated exchange once Biden held a narrow lead in the Electoral College following the election. One crucial factor determining the outcome of this year’s election is the postal vote. Whereas in a normal election, the average percentage of mailed-in votes is four to five percent per state, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the figure is expected to rise to as high as 20 percent this year.
The debaters were then told that the mailed-in ballots in the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina were still being counted. (Some states do not allow the counting of ballots to begin until the elections have been completed, whereas other states allow ballots to be counted upon receipt). With the adjudicators rolling a ten-sided die to prolong the argument and decide conflicts, Trump’s side sought to use all the tools available.
In typical Trump fashion, they quickly ordered the head of the postal service to stop delivering the postal ballots and within a week the President had employed the two-centuries old Insurrection Act to deploy troops to protect the polling stations. As November rolled into December and January 20, Inauguration Day loomed, Trump’s side which still held the reins of power had refused to back down and were deploying all options, including a series of legal, governmental, and political levers to remain in office.
The reality is even more confounding. Michigan and Wisconsin share the identical political profile with Republican controlled state legislatures loyal to Trump and Democratic Governors. It is quite possible for the two parties, legislature, and governor, to submit conflicting electoral certificates as happened in the infamous 1876 Hayes-Tilden elections. Meanwhile Trump has repeatedly stated that “mail-in ballots will lead to the most corrupt election in USA history.”
These “war games” were staged in June, whilst Trump’s interview with Wallace took place this month. Truth is stranger than fiction. Republicans interviewed about this plausible scenario expressed genuine concern about Trump’s willingness to accept defeat at the polls.
“President Trump has been willing, as we’ve seen consistently for the last three-and-a-half years, to put people in very precarious positions, making them choose between personal loyalty to him and professional loyalty to the country,” Guy Snodgrass, a former communications director for the US defence secretary in the Trump administration observed.
Just how far Trump will push the envelope to remain in power remains to be seen. One commentator has even suggested that Trump would call upon his loyalists to bring their guns and surround the White House if the Army was called in to remove him from office.
Far-fetched? Not in the eyes of Tom Coleman, former Republican congressman from Missouri, who was quoted by The Daily Telegraph, as saying, “From what we have experienced in Trump’s three point five years in the presidency, one must assume that he is capable of doing anything to stay in office.”
As we are witnessing here at present, departing the halls of power gracefully, does not appear to be an acceptable option for some folks.
