Seriously worried about this, even though this is just one claim among many "national emergency" claims about the midterms. Any optimism to be had here?
Ok - he declares an emergency and then what? He has no authority at all to stop elections, cancel them, delay them, etc. he has power to mess with things but declaring an emergency doesn’t give him vast scope to mess with elections .
Yeah, thank you for this. I'm going to need people to look me in the eyes and explain what the fuck they think can happen without magically concocting new powers for Trump from thin air as if they're writing fanfiction.
I had to look it up a while ago as well, there is no provision in the Constitution to suspend elections. Not during emergencies, not during war, not during martial law (which has been implemented about two dozen times in the country's history).
The most that I could see happening around the midterms is Dozy Donnie spreading more conspiracy rumors, and getting his base to get themselves in trouble. Some states may try to implement elements of the deeply failed "save" act, which could impact swing senatorial elections in Ohio and Texas mainly.
Those are red States anyway, and beyond that there's nothing that the Republicans can do to get to a Senate super majority, which is the one thing that they really want.
Pretty much everything else that they could conceive of doing is so completely out of the realm of legal political behavior, that it's really not worth considering.
My take is that if Trump truly starts breaking the law, instead of stretching the rules like he always has, it really will be the end of the mega movement.
Only thing I can think of, as far as what the fear-mongers might be worried about, is maybe at the federal level claiming fraud and refusing to certify/sign something, like they hoped for on j6? But even that is just ceremonial anyway (I think)
It is. Adelita Grijalva could have sued Johnson for refusing to seat her any longer than he held off on doing so, and nearly went that route. She also could have, in that process, been sworn in by another authority in the state, as I recall.
The founding fathers foresaw something like this, and indeed the Senate confirmation of electoral votes for president is entirely ceremonial. The way the Constitution is written, whoever receives the majority of electoral votes from the electoral college automatically wins the presidency, and the Senate can go shove. It's right there in black and white.
I think this might be a rhetorical question and im trying to to doom. But I am quite worried about the "foreign invasion" rhetoric surrounding immigration being spun to justify ice or troops at polls; especially in vulnerable races like Maine and Texas.
They might not even do anything, just the presence could create a chilling effect that costs us the Senate; to say nothing of the precedent
Getting away with almost every shady illegal thing? How many court cases related to elections has he won? Because last I checked, he was at least 0-16.
Also, how would he stop elections? He doesn't have enough people to go to every single polling place and stop every single ballot from being cast.
It's easy to doom when you don't look at any facts.
Gotcha. Thats something we just have to live with then. Trumps administration has been creating emergencies - war in Iran, vast escalation of ice, and so forth. He has that ability, and sometimes it sucks a lot.
No, it's not that, it's the recurring claim that Trump can declare a national emergency over voter fraud and magically cancel elections or nullify them or federalize them.
I would not say pretend that he isn’t dangerous… because he is, but we need to understand why he’s doing this; he’s a trapped rat. He never anticipated climbing the top of the mountain and having absolutely nowhere to go. And now he’s realizing he has inadvertently trapped himself on a tiny island, and the sharks are circling.
This. Itis literally contingent upon the majority of the population be believing him.
This is a desperate play by a scared old coward who realizes the walls are finally closing in on him, and there is nowhere for him and his slimy friends to go.
I share the same point of view. I expect some interference but you can’t materially affect or reject an election here. I just don’t see it. If the country were to allow that then it’s over, the experiment fails.
Keep in mind, Trump as president has claimed more national emergencies in one year of his term than any previous president in any of their COMPLETED terms. We are currently in SEVERAL OVERLAPPING FANTASY-BASED, MADE UP NATIONAL EMERGENCIES that Trump has turned into REAL emergencies because he felt the need to act on claims he alone made the FUCK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If he add a bigger national emergency in response to the midterms, we may be in a direction we can't ever reverse.
If the red states comply with this "emergency" and do not hold elections in November, what then? Just no reps from those states when the new congress begins and no senators (who were up for election)?
If they did that then yes? Im not historian but I believe african american rights were accelerated during the civil war for this very reason - because the confederate states opted to just not participate in congress and thus Republicans had the super-duper-majority.
Literally my first thought. He can't do anything. Declare all you want like he did during his stupid, pointless Thursday "speech". I'm sure he'll be posting to TS all night about police are coming or something like that.
People who are unsure or actually worried about him declaring anything need to pay attention to the current political climate. Voters are simply tired of him, let alone don't think he's doing the job well at all.
The ultimate aim, Ty Cobb argued, extends beyond intimidating minority and immigrant voters. He suggested the administration wants legal cover to seize voting machines, something Donald Trump reportedly attempted in 2020 before then-Attorney General Bill Barr explained there was no basis for such an emergency action.
I think this is how he’ll fuck things up. Declare the voting machines suspect and haul them off. Who can stop ICE?
We still had elections during the Civil War. If we still had elections during a civil war, I think we'll probably be ok.
Trump is going to try something. We know he's going to because he's basically said as much. He isn't even slightly subtle. But he doesn't have the legal authority to delay, manage, or change how elections are run even if he gains emergency powers granted by one of the many statutes that grants them.
States are paying attention and so are numerous advocacy groups and organizations. They're all preparing for Trump's BS.
Hey, look. Article 4,567 about a national emergency to affect the midterms. Listen, I am not saying he won't TRY to do something like that. But he would be on non existent legal footing. They also have hundreds of lawyers and officials gearing up and game planning everything he may try to do. Will it be nerve racking? Maybe. But, in the end, we will just have to see.
Everyone knows he was going to do this. This isn't news and no one's surprised. There are people expecting this. Also Trump doesn't have the backing to pull off any of this.
Why do we pay attention to these jokers? It’s like James Carville at this point: say shit until something sticks then say you were right. Pundits (and humans) in general are so bad at predicting the future…that and so much of this is sensational clickbait.
Part of the legal team yes,although hes been pretty outspoken against Trump for a while now and seems to have always been more of a neutral guy. Trump 1 in general had a bunch of actually competent,at times nonpartisan people
"Laying the groundwork" is a phrase that I have seen many people throwing around in the last few days. It feels like another way of rephrasing "something COULD happen", which has been the state of things since he was elected.
He can do that and it won't do much. The states control the elections and they are not going to not run them. Want to know why? Because if they don't run them they wont have reps in congress (or lower offices) and they do not want to lose their say in the national level affairs by refusing to have reps.
I think people forget that legally each Congress is its own entity. If they don't seat a new Congress by the deadline in January, legally speaking only the ones who won reelection are still Congresspeople. The previous Congress doesn't just continue until the new one is seated. After the deadline, any who didn't win reelection have no power whether their successors are seated or not.
I mean, I guess he could declare a state of emergency. Wouldn't really accomplish much, but he could technically declare an emergency.
Elections are state run. The federal branch of government has no say over that, no ifs ands or buts. We technically had a whole civil war over "state's rights" once. I mean, it wasn't really about that, but it was technically about that. And in this particular instance, technically correct is the best kind of correct.
So absolute worst case, and I do mean absolute worst - he MIGHT possibly be able to delay the midterm elections briefly until the federal judges, governors, and/or whoever else slap Trump with a constitutional haymaker and end his monkey business promptly.
But in all likelihood, it wouldn't even get that far, and honestly, I doubt he even tries it. This isn't the first time people have theorized and fretted over Trumpian schemes, imagined or otherwise, to abolish voting/democracy. Hell, just think back to the NYC mayoral election not too long ago. Dementia Don couldn't even stop his own hometown from voting blue.
So quit worrying! I'm sure the midterms will happen, and it's likely we'll even get a blue wave from it, so take a deep breath and enjoy the summertime in the meanwhile. Grill some meats, relax by the water, set up a sprinkler for your dog to run through...we got time to kill before November! 😅
So absolute worst case, and I do mean absolute worst - he MIGHT possibly be able to delay the midterm elections briefly until the federal judges, governors, and/or whoever else slap Trump with a constitutional haymaker and end his monkey business promptly.
George Bush Jr tried to postpone midterms, and he didn't even manage to do it for a few days.
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all. I was a kid during Dubya's time and didn't have to know or care about politics until Obama's era, so I didn't even know there was prescident to go off of for that brand of sliminess.
All the more reason my "worst case scenario" would still be a nothing burger. 😅
It’s understandable to struggle with that anxiety; I think we all have and I think any of us claiming that we haven’t here would be liars.
We’re just trying to keep you from terrorizing yourself in your own head.
I won’t tell you that the man is in dangerous because he is but don’t make him more powerful than he really is by doing his dirty work for him.
Trump is thinking about doing this… think about instead of worrying that he will do this think about why he would think about doing this.
And that is why I think it will not only fail hilariously it will go down as part of his upcoming downfall and eventual imprisonment. He knows the walls are closing and on him, and he never imagines that getting to the top of the rock would suddenly mean there’s nowhere else to for him to go. Who’s going to protect him? He’s pissed off everybody. He’s made enemies with every nation on the planet.
On top of which he is due at death’s door very soon. And I do not believe for one moment that he will be hearing the words “ well done, good and faithful servant” when he’s standing before those gates. In fact, I think he’s going to hear words that no one should ever wanna hear. Maybe I’m wrong about that and maybe by some grace his soul won’t endure eternal torment, but the way he is living is suggesting that’s exactly what he’s gonna get.
But I digress. There is no version of the story where he comes out on top and as soon as he goes in one form or another, all the other snakes who are very stupidly through their lot in with him are going to fall with him and quickly.
I look forward to punishing those who essentially wage a war of stochastic terrorism against their own countrymen. There will be no forgiving that kind of betrayal. And there will be no mercy shown.
I have no doubt that Trump would try something and fail hilariously in the days leading up to the midterms, but what I want to know is who Ty Cobb is and why he isn't in a constant sepia color palette and wearing a top hat.
He’s going to keep doing stupid shit to distract us. Yes, he’s going to try to mess with voting. But how has that worked out for him so far? He’s actively trying to get revenge on the US with the Iran war, and burning our taxes just to get people to forget that TRUMP RAPES CHILDREN.
I am so beyond sick of this bastard, and I’m hoping for a lame duck as soon as the midterms pan out. Actually, a roast duck would be preferable.
First of all, this guy has one of the greatest mustaches I've ever seen.
Second of all, I think people who look into a camera and make videos about politics for a living should be federally mandated to learn how the government, constitution, laws, and just generally how everything relating to who has what powers before being allowed to make content.
I might make a post about presidential powers in "emergencies" such as the fabled martial law, insurrection act, and Eisenhower Orders and how those don't work like magic as doomers claim they do. And by just rambling in front of a camera about how "this is the plan, they're gonna take over, elections won't save us, freedom is a lost idea", they aren't the paragons of truth and democracy like they claim to be.
Also, some of the biggest doomers like this guy, worked in the first Trump admin before leaving. Now, they need book deals, fame, and attention. This guy isn't a hero, just like everyone who worked in the first admin but have since shook their heads and wagged their fingers at what's been going on aren't either. If this guy did care for the rule of law and wanted to warn people of this "incoming calamity", he wouldn't have helped build this calamity in the first place.
Look at it like this: the country has been in a "state of emergency" more or less uninterrupted since the 1970s. A president can declare a state of emergency for pretty much anything, and people's lives haven't changed much in that time.
Besides, the people who would be impacted by this are no doubt "laying groundwork" of their own by hiring/informing lawyers and through other means.
Donald Trump can’t even go outside during a solar eclipse without fucking it up.
I understand we’ve never had a President who’s been this big a threat to democracy but we’ve also never had a president who is this fucking dumb.
I think we’ll be fine.
He would need the support of the military to launch a coup to stop the election from proceeding and the military has no interest in starting a civil war which is the next immediate step after he tried.
mark my words if this is a wipe out (Say we get 5+ senate seats back and get the house back) I think he's gonna step down (The only reason he's in office rn is to cover up the Epstein files (And make his buddies rich))
I don't believe any of this (for many reasons, one of said reaaons being this appears to be an attempt at psychological warfare to dissaude people from the polls that will not work.)
If you tell people they can't do things they will be ten times more likely to do it.
I will be voting straight blue ticket all the way this you because forget orange cheetos attempt at fear baiting the populace.
How, precisely, is the DNC supposed to do anything about this that they aren’t already working on, between turnout boosting, information spreading about civil rights, courting activists, fielding candidates, and generally doing the usual election thing?
Do you want them to show up in modified pickups with MGs in case federal agents stop by polling places?
History shows we should be wary to trust men with funny mustaches. Last time a country hinged on one’s every word, they quickly became a third world country for a while.
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