“What will happen if Donald Trump loses again?” has been a question in the back of America’s mind ever since the Republican nominee announced he will be running in 2024. Over the weekend, four Politico reporters attempted to get to the bottom of this question – and determinedd that if Trump tried to overturn another election, the results will be “more extreme.”
“His path to subvert an election that he loses is very different this time around than it was four years ago. So we wanted to talk to everyone we possibly could and say, ‘Is there a path, if Donald Trump actually loses, for him to try to take power?’” Kyle Chene, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico and one of the authors of “The Very Real Scenario Where Trump Loses and Takes Power Anyway,” said on “Morning Joe.”
Reporters Cheney, Heidi Przybyla, John Sakellariadis and Lisa Kashinsky “essentially” realized the answer to that question is “yes.” There is a way for Trump to try and take power if he loses the 2024 election.
“It would be way more extreme and require way more help from Republicans in power in elected office and state legislators and Congress,” Cheney explained.
According to Cheney, this grab at unearned power would largely take place after the November election. It would start with Trump not acknowledging his loss and instead declaring himself President. There’s already precedent for this as Trump took those very actions during the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. In his recent speeches and rallies, Trump has also already started to sew doubt around the authenticity of America’s current voting system.
After that, a “permissive structure” would have to be created for Republicans who are currently in power to take steps “they might not ordinarily take.” Those steps would include possibly appointing alternate electors or members of Congress resisting federal election laws that would “normally prevent accepting alternate slates of electors.” Cheney listed Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as one of the most important figures in this path to a mass political upset.
Cheney also pointed out that Trump is more motivated than ever to become President again because he has an “avalanche of criminal cases waiting on the other side.”
As much doom and gloom as there was in this report, there was one glimmer of hope. Because this plan Politico constructed relies on Congress, if the Democrats take the House, Trump’s path to overturning an election “are pretty much closed. He needs Congress to step in on that Jan. 6 session to try and subvert any election that he loses,” Cheney said.
It isn’t crazy to think that if Trump loses he will try to overturn the election. After the 2020 election Trump and many other Republicans in power pushed the narrative that widespread voter fraud led to Biden winning. Despite these allegations, official investigations found no voting fraud or irregularities. Trump’s vow that he would never concede the election then led to a mob of Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump then acknowledged the incoming administration a day later.
Due to his statements, Trump has been indicted on four counts related to conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results. The trial will not take place before Election Day.
The post Trump Has a ‘More Extreme’ Path to Take Power Even if He Loses Election, MSNBC Analyst Says: ‘Very Different This Time’ appeared first on TheWrap.
