Is Donald J. Trump Planning to Seize the Presidency?
Is Donald Trump, assuming the election is certified and upheld in the courts, planning to use the military or paramilitary to remain President? Trump will not concede the election to Joe Biden. Trump has alleged massive voter fraud led to his defeat at the polls and delegitimize Biden’s victory. Eight in ten Americans who voted for Trump believe Biden’s election is not legitimate. The Trump ‘team’ has filed a multitude of lawsuits challenging these results. (It has become apparent these lawsuits have little to no chance of succeeding to overturn the election results.) Trump legates including Donald Jr., Eric, Rudy Giuliani, Kayleigh McEnany, Mike Pompeo, and others are affirming Trump’s assertions and fueling conspiracy theories how the election results are fraudulent, and Trump actually won the election. Fox News personalities are openly questioning the election results. In the last two days Trump fired Mark Esper and is replacing some pentagon officials with ‘loyalists.’
All these actions beg the question … “Is Donald Trump, assuming the election is certified and upheld in the courts, planning to use the military or paramilitary to remain President?” Mark Esper would have actively opposed this action. Is Trump banking his pentagon loyalists will keep the pentagon in flux long enough to make his play while Republican Party leaders will remain silent or even support his action?
Is it possible that our nearly 250-year experiment in democracy on the verge of failure? Yes, people will take to the streets. Trump will use his policing powers to quell this unrest and encourage his supporters to follow his lead. Does Trump’s contention that "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters," translate into support for usurping our Republic?
What must be done? Trump takes the Republican Party leaders’ silence as a consent and will make them complicit in this ‘coup.’ We need to preempt Trump and float this tactic as a possibility now. We need to ask Republican Party leaders, “Will you support Trump if he uses the military to remain as President? Get them on the record. A bipartisan coalition could force Trump to concede now, begin the transition process, and take this opportunity to seize control of the government away from him. The longer they wait, the more difficult it will be to peacefully dissuade him.
Trump’s motivation is far more than his inability to admit he lost. It is his fear that he, family, and others will be prosecuted for crimes that may have been committed before and during his presidency. Do not underestimate the seriousness of this situation or its plausibility. I only hope to God this line of thought is wrong and the question moot.
