What happens if Trump loses and tries to sieze power?

[Drazzil]

Random thought. It's been in the news a bit that Trump has spoken a bit about this. Its scary.

[Pyperkub]

The military boots him, he is arrested and thrown in jail for treason.

[Smoove_B]

Loses? Ever the eternal optimist, eh?

[Drazzil]

Loses? Ever the eternal optimist, eh?

Fingers crossed!

[$iljanus]

The military boots him, he is arrested and thrown in jail for treason.

And I think the Secret Service detail will have words for the ex-Toddler in Chief.

[Pyperkub]

The military boots him, he is arrested and thrown in jail for treason.

And I think the Secret Service detail will have words for the ex-Toddler in Chief.

Probably with golf clubs in hand!

[Drazzil]

The military boots him, he is arrested and thrown in jail for treason.

And I think the Secret Service detail will have words for the ex-Toddler in Chief.

Hmm... I seem to remember reading somewhere that Trump has surrounded himself with secret service officials loyal to him. I think it was reddit, so... Maybe not the best source.

[LawBeefaroni]

What happens if Trump loses and tries to sieze power?

50/50 coin toss at this point. Both on whether he loses and on whether he tries to seize power if he does.

I'll stock up on ammo and whisky prior to the election just in case.

And Pop Tarts and Amarone.





You never know

[YellowKing]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

Trump can't even keep people loyal to him NOW. You think he's going to convince them to break the law and seize control of the US government during a legitimate election loss? No way.

The one scenario I have a little bit easier time believing is if the election proved to be very close, and Trump refused to concede. Then yeah, I'm sure he'll pull an Al Gore and drag the thing out until every hanging chad has been counted. But I don't think this election is going to be that close.

[Kraken]

The one scenario I have a little bit easier time believing is if the election proved to be very close, and Trump refused to concede. Then yeah, I'm sure he'll pull an Al Gore and drag the thing out until every hanging chad has been counted.

Any guess who the SCOTUS would pick?

Drazzil's question comes up every time the WH changes hands -- or it has since Bush/Gore, at least. It feels more plausible this time around, with an unhinged incumbent who has dropped hints. To succeed, Trump would need to inspire personal loyalty, not just fear. So I agree that he would be removed.

How many Trumpelos would run amok in the involuntary removal scenario? It would depend in part on how much they hate the winning Democrat.

Me, I still think he dies before the next election.

[Drazzil]

The one scenario I have a little bit easier time believing is if the election proved to be very close, and Trump refused to concede. Then yeah, I'm sure he'll pull an Al Gore and drag the thing out until every hanging chad has been counted.

Any guess who the SCOTUS would pick?

Drazzil's question comes up every time the WH changes hands -- or it has since Bush/Gore, at least. It feels more plausible this time around, with an unhinged incumbent who has dropped hints. To succeed, Trump would need to inspire personal loyalty, not just fear. So I agree that he would be removed.

How many Trumpelos would run amok in the involuntary removal scenario? It would depend in part on how much they hate the winning Democrat.

Me, I still think he dies before the next election.

Then we get Pence. Pence is much more capable.

[GreenGoo]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

[Drazzil]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

Let's hope so.

[Jaymann]

Sailors from the USS John S. McCain would storm the White House?

[YellowKing]

If you recall, there was this same kind of boogeyman story when Obama was in office, with conservatives predicting he'd change the Constitution to get a third term.

[LawBeefaroni]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

Same can because for about 80% of what this administration has done already. Well, except the good writer part.

[Remus West]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

Same can because for about 80% of what this administration has done already. Well, except the good writer part.

The part that is scary to me is that I can not get myself to rule out the possibility of his attempting to retain power if he loses after a single term. I think if he gets 2 terms that possibility goes away as he will be able to walk away "a winner" which is all he cares about.

[Paingod]

I'm on the side saying this is barely a thought exercise worth entertaining. There's no structure in the US that would support him doing this.

What I'm more interested in is the absolute shitstorming we'll see if (pleasepleasepleaseplease) he loses the 2020 election. From the moment the polls close until the second he has to transfer power, I expect he'll be kicking-screaming-pissing-thrashing-fighting at everyone and everything that he perceives as the cause for his failure. I think his behavior will make what we've seen so far look like peaceful serenity on a quiet lake. I expect him to try and incite riots by his deepest constituents and try to provoke aggression against anyone who wasn't on his side.

I'll feel extra sorry for any Secret Service agents who'll have to trail around after him for the rest of his life.

[Kurth]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

What GG said. Not even worth talking about.

[LawBeefaroni]

Since we're just doing a thought experiment, what if something like the 2008 implosion or the 9/11 attacks happen?

If you can't see a Trump takeover on a good day, what about on a really bad day? Senate defers to executive orders, House is toothless...


And who has really shown backbone? Mueller and a few generals who resigned? What were they able to do?



Trump being president was an inane thought experiment 4 years ago. Looked where we are now.

[Holman]

The biggest danger is a flurry of executive orders, judicial confirmations, and other Bad Things that Trump and McConnell can rush through during the lame duck period.

I could see Trump basically firing everybody in every agency within his reach just to cause strife (and to gum up the works of investigation) as he leaves office.

[Blackhawk]

The part that is scary to me is that I can not get myself to rule out the possibility of his attempting to retain power if he loses after a single term.

Nor can I, but the operative word is 'try.' I can't imagine any scenario in which he could succeed past the first few hours. Hell, I doubt it would go beyond a tweetstorm. I do dread the thought of a lame duck 'loser' Trump. Hopefully it is countered somewhat when the R congress realizes that it no longer needs him.

[Paingod]

I could see Trump basically firing everybody in every agency within his reach just to cause strife (and to gum up the works of investigation) as he leaves office.

That's the sort of shitstorm I'm more worried about. He could potentially damage things so much that it takes the next president's term just to try and correct the listing ship he inherits.

[El Guapo]

I think it's a scary bedtime story for Democrats, and about as believable as a fairy tale.

+1. Not even worth entertaining the question imo. I don't find any interest or value in it even as a thought experiment. Maybe as a fiction from a good writer.

Same can because for about 80% of what this administration has done already. Well, except the good writer part.

The part that is scary to me is that I can not get myself to rule out the possibility of his attempting to retain power if he loses after a single term. I think if he gets 2 terms that possibility goes away as he will be able to walk away "a winner" which is all he cares about.

Well, the idea that Trump would openly say "fuck the constitution and the election results, I'm declaring myself dictator for life" or something is silly and not worth considering.

However, there are other scenarios that do worry me quite a bit. First, there's the risk of election shenanigans, running the gamut from voter roll purges to actual vote manipulation (at least in states with electronic voting machines and no paper trail).

Second, if Trump loses narrowly, the odds that he contests the election results to me seem quite high. He questioned the vote results in 2016 in an election that he *won*. In an election that he loses, and where he now faces the prospect of criminal charges once out of office? I assume it's very likely that he'll have people ginning up electoral fraud accusations, and if key states have Trump / GOP friendly Secretaries of State, there's a realistic prospect of efforts to recertify election results in his favor (and resulting court battles).

As a result, I think there's a plausible scenario where both Trump and Biden / Warren / Sanders / etc. both have inaugurations in January 2021 with competing claims to the presidency.

[Rumpy]

Then we get Pence. Pence is much more capable.

And Pence is much more likely to try and distance himself from Trump, possibly in even turn on him. Pence was recently in Ottawa talking to Trudeau about the trade deals, the whole MSMCA thing and looked to be making some headway and trying to smooth things out diplomatically, and you could tell he was feeling embarrassed to be in Trump's shadow. A few hours later, on that very same day Trump completely undermined his visit by slapping tariffs on the Mexicans. If Pence wasn't feeling any resentment before this, I wouldn't be surprised if he was after all that. Why send in your VP to finalize a deal and then completely contradict him? At least allow him a few days of glory. He hadn't even left Ottawa yet before Trump made his announcement and undid everything. Egg=Face.