How The Trump Coup Happens

Trump declines to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, if he loses: “Get rid of the ballots and we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

56 thoughts on “How The Trump Coup Happens”

  1. The inauguration will take place whether trump concedes or not. Once Biden is sworn in, the Secret Service, FBI, armed services and Treasury Department will obey Mr Biden’s orders. Does anyone think that trump’s supporters in the White House are going to stick with trump through a siege, when their bank accounts are frozen and their properties are seized ?
    Besides, trump is far more likely to abscond to saudi Arabia or russia than he is to stay and fight. I mean, it’s not as if trump is a courageous person. When pressed he always displays his true cowardly nature. 

  2. reposted from last night in case you missed it

    see where judge ordered  eric trump to show up to be deposed by NY atty gen forthwith. wonder if this quote reported by vanity fair in 2017 will come up:

    “So when I got in the cart with Eric,” Dodson says, “as we were setting off, I said, ‘Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks—because of the recession, the Great Recession—have touched a golf course. You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.’ And this is what he said. He said, ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.’ Now that was three years ago, so it was pretty interesting.”

    repeated for emphasis and in hopes it goes viral:

    ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’ 
    [Eric Trump]

  3. wapo coverage on eric. so will he  spill his guts, flip or commit perjury?

    NEW YORK — A state judge on Wednesday ordered Eric Trump to be deposed no later than Oct. 7 in the New York attorney general’s examination of the Trump Organization’s financial practices, rejecting a protest by President Trump’s son, who has said he is too busy to meet with investigators until after November’s election.
    The president’s company is managed now by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom have taken active roles in their father’s reelection efforts. An attorney for Eric Trump said during Wednesday’s hearing that the president’s son travels nearly seven days a week to make campaign-related appearances.
    […]
    The judge also ordered that the Trump Organization and related business entities that were withholding documents and claiming attorney-client privilege proceed with producing records to the attorney general.The ruling was handed down by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron after nearly two hours of arguments in a lawsuit brought by state investigators conducting the civil investigation.
    […]
    A lawyer for Eric Trump did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. It is unclear whether he will appeal the judge’s order.

    The state attorney general’s investigation centers on a number of Trump properties, including 212 acres in suburban Westchester County where Trump failed to develop a golf course. Officials have said they are looking at potential abuse of the conservation easement program, a voluntarily system through which private property owners can obtain conservation-site status in exchange for a promise to limit development on protected land. Conservation easements can be controversial — sometimes seen as easy tax loopholes for the wealthy.
    [continues]

  5. He’s as good as gone.  This treasonous, dictatorial bastard must go.   If this doesn’t tell Mitt that he needs to change his mind about a SCOTUS vote, and if this doesn’t tell others that they need to follow suit or be remembered for destroying America…  There will be no safe space for the tRUMPsky mob on this planet.

  7. We are staring a constitutional crisis in the face. I do not know how it will shake out but I know where it will – in a SCOTUS skewed right by Moscow Mitch. Be afraid. 

  8. the hill:

    Federal Election Commission Commissioner Ellen Weintraubon Wednesday said the U.S. does not “get rid of” ballots in response to comments made by President Trump as he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses in November.
    “In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not ‘get rid of’ ballots. We count them,” Weintraub, a Democrat, tweeted, in response to Trump’s comments. 

    “Counting the ballots – *all* the ballots – is the way we determine who leads our country after our elections. The only way,” Weintraub added. 

  9. the guardian:

    Wednesday was one of those days when to have a seat in the White House briefing room felt like stepping through the looking-glass into Blunderland, where the mad hatter has an authoritarian streak a mile wide.
    Trump careered from touting miracle vaccines to building supreme court suspense, from insulting a female member of the British royal family to abruptly departing for a mysterious “emergency” phone call. But first, there was the small matter of kneecapping American democracy.
    Perhaps it was not chance that the president, ever eager to generate media outrage, gave the first question to Brian Karem, who describes himself on Twitter as a “Loud Mouth” senior White House reporter at Playboy. “Will you commit to make sure there’s a peaceful transferral of power after the election?” Karem asked.
    All of his 43 predecessors would have said yes, presumably. But Trump replied: “We’re going to have to see what happens, you know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
    Karem shot back: “I understand that, but people are rioting. Do you commit to make sure that there’s a peaceful transferral of power?”
    Still Trump refused to commit. “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. And you know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.
    Later, Karem remarked on Twitter: “This is the most frightening answer I have ever received to any question I have ever asked. I’ve interviewed convicted killers with more empathy. @realDonaldTrump is advocating Civil War.”
    And Julian Castro, who served in Barack Obama’s cabinet, tweeted: “In one day, Trump refused a peaceful transition of power and urged the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice to hand him an election if the results are contested. This is fascism, alive and well in the Republican Party.”

    [continues]

  10. Texas shatters voter registration records again as Trump-Biden election draws closer

    Texas has once again shattered vote registration records, adding more than 1.5 million voters since the last presidential election.
    Texas now has surpassed 16.6 million voters, according to the latest numbers announced Tuesday by Texas Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs. And there are still almost two weeks to add more.

  11. The FBI warns that election results may be delayed, Trump goes after mail-in voting, and the Supreme Court has the power to help the president steal the election.

  12. easy solution, just don’t let the vote be close enough to cause a recount and a replay of 2000 florida race.
    The NYT poll had voters in swing states 90% certain who they were going to vote for. What that means is it is now time to get the base out to vote. in states that like Georga, Texas, Iowa it is down to who best gets their base out to vote.
    Jack

  14. OK, time to try to square a circle.
    Top banner in the WaPo covid-19 section:

     
    Live updates: Coronavirus not spreading widely in school buildings, early research shows

     
    But, in the tracking the spread portion of the COVID-19 section the following is reported:

    In the past week in the U.S….

    New daily reported cases rose 8.8% 
    New daily reported deaths rose 37.9% 
    Covid-related hospitalizations fell 5% 

    Among reported tests, the positivity rate was 5.2%.
    The number of tests reported rose 21.6% from the previous week.

    So the virus doesn’t appear to be spreading widely in school buildings, but here we are, in the week following the start of school and just over two weeks after Labor Day watching the numbers of cases rise by over 8%, the number of deaths rise by over 35%.

    So I said WTF? Well, here’s the fuck.  The data that the article under the banner is from a Brown Univ. study based on data that is…

    voluntarily reported by schools and school districts, both public and private, including schools that offer in-person classes and those that are fully remote. As of Wednesday morning, the project had data from more than 550 schools, including more than 300 that have some in-person classes. 

    It is some of the most uncontrolled data I’ve seen in what purports to be a study of CV spread in schools. Brown and WaPo should post a prominent disclaimer that reads something like – DO NOT PUT ANY STOCK IN THIS STORY. IT IS CLASSIC GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT BUT WE HAVE TO FILL COLUMN INCHES SO HERE IT IS.

    I will note that it is hard to put any stock in a national study that is of voluntarily reported data from just over 1/4 the number of schools in New York City. (There are 1700 public schools in NYC and another 260 or so private school in the boroughs)
     

  16. So far, the courts have sided with the rule of law against trump…  yes even the SC.  That gives me hope.  And….   oh yeah…   what xrep said in the first comment.

  18. Hey, remember when Trump stood in front of the White House lawn with a bunch of CEOs, and the two guys from Walgreen’s and CVS were going to provide free, widely-available Covid testing?
     
    Have yet to see retail Covid testing anywhere.

    That was, like, 4-5 months, ago.

  20. Yep Bink, that state legislature electoral college ploy in Atlantic piece is scary as it can be. Because it would be upheld in the courts under Bush v. Gore, which ruled that state legislatures, not voters, control makeup of the college — which is what the constitution says. Hard to see this court changing that.

  23. rr -Peeing is exactly how my doc said he’s had to explain it to younger folks who won’t mask up.  As for the old dude who spit in another patient’s face in the waiting room, I hope he enjoys jail.

  24. If the Senators don’t see they need to stop tRUMPsky from killing democracy by blocking SCOTUS hearings, well,  there will be an attempted coup and it won’t end well for Orange Julius or anyone who supported him.  Willard, that means you, too!    His supporters have been told to take to the streets with their guns…and that is just what Poo-tin wants.  

  25. raw story:

    President Donald Trump baselessly claimed six ballots cast for him had been found in a trash can, as part of his ongoing efforts to undermine confidence in the election.
    The president appeared on Fox Radio with host Brian Kilmeade, who tried to help him clean up his refusal to accept the peaceful transfer of power if he lost November’s election.
    “You created some news, as usually do,” Kilmeade said. “One thing you said, when asked about if you lose the election, will you accept the result. You said, ‘Well, we’re going have to see what happens, you know, I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, the ballots are disaster.’ Many think you are saying if you do lose, you’ll never, ever leave. That’s now what you’re saying.”
    Kilmeade then cited his interview earlier Thursday morning on “Fox & Friends” with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said he would accept a Trump loss if the Supreme Court decided that Joe Biden had won — although Congress, not the court, certifies election results.
    “Oh, that I would agree with,” Trump said. “But I think we have a long way before we get there. These ballots are a horror show.”
    He then claimed, without providing evidence or specifics, that ballots for him were being tossed out.
    “They found six ballots in an office yesterday in a garbage can they were Trump ballots — eight ballots — in an office yesterday in a certain state,” the president said. “They had Trump written on it and they were thrown in a garbage can. This is what’s going to happen, this is what’s going to happen, and we’re investigating that.”
    “It’s a terrible thing is going on with these ballots,” he added, as Kilmeade tried to steer him in another direction. “Who’s sending them, where are they sending them, where are they going to? What areas are they going to, what areas are they not going to? When they get there who’s going to take care of them? When we find eight ballots, that’s emblematic of thousands of locations, perhaps.”

  27. NYTimes:

    President Trump is on the defensive in three red states he carried in 2016, narrowly trailing Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Iowa and battling to stay ahead of him in Georgia and Texas, as Mr. Trump continues to face a wall of opposition from women that has also endangered his party’s control of the Senate, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College.
    […]
    A yawning gender gap in all three states is working in Mr. Biden’s favor, with the former vice president making inroads into conservative territory with strong support from women. In Iowa, where Mr. Biden is ahead of Mr. Trump, 45 percent to 42 percent, he is up among women by 14 percentage points. Men favor Mr. Trump by eight points.
    In Georgia, where the two candidates are tied at 45 percent, Mr. Biden leads among women by 10 points. Mr. Trump is ahead with men by a similar margin of 11 percentage points.
    Mr. Trump’s large advantage among men in Texas is enough to give him a small advantage there, 46 percent to 43 percent. Men prefer the president to his Democratic challenger by 16 points, while women favor Mr. Biden by an eight-point margin.
    […]
    The lopsided gender dynamics of the presidential contest extend to Senate races in Iowa, Georgia and Texas, with Republican incumbents facing strong challenges from Democratic candidates favored heavily by women. The gender gap is pronounced even in Iowa, where both Senate candidates are women. The Democratic challenger, Theresa Greenfield, has a two-point lead over Senator Joni Ernst and an 11-point advantage with women.
    [continues]

  28. Mother Pence is going to be here in Holland tomorrow morning at 11:00 for a “Evangelicals for Trump” rally. Sadly, I will be at work during that time and I will be forced to miss it.

  29. Evangelical now = racist  (Every actual Christian must distance themselves from their stance.  WWJD?  Get as far away from tRUMPsky as possible.)

  30. Karma’s a beatch.

    Missouri’s governor has refused to mandate masks. Now he’s tested positive for the coronavirus.

    Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) has often inflamed critics by downplaying the risks of reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic, resisting calls for a statewide mask mandate and attending large events without wearing a mask in a state with rising covid-19 numbers.

    Now Parson, 65, and his wife, Teresa, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the governor announced Wednesday. They are quarantining, forcing Parson to postpone campaign events and to reschedule a gubernatorial debate.
    (Continues)

    Puts a nice perspective on that old “Show me state” nickname, no?  Maybe the dumbass needs to read the “Is it useful to wear a mask?” flier Renee posted this morning, which by the way I printed out and have on the wall next to my desk now. Mrs. P almost spit up she was laughing so hard at it.
     

  32. Trump’s first dictatorial statement  in 2015 was when he said he wanted to imprison (lock her up) Hillary and then he wanted to imprison Obama.  That’s NOT a democracy! Only in totalitarian states do the dictators imprison or poison  their adversaries. And he’s wanted to stop publication of books. Yet, most people weren’t listening or paying attention.Some were saying “that’s trump being trump”.  In “Disloyal” Cohen warns that trumpity will do ANYTHING to win. He sites an example of a CNBC poll where Cohen contacted a tech guy at Liberty University to rig the vote in trump’s favor by buying URL’s and flooding the votes. CNBC took trump off the list, but he still kept the printout with him as #9, as if that were true.
     
    He will do anything to win. It’s time for the repubes to speak up!

  33. KC, there’s no telling – I’m guessing that a couple days ago her comment to her dumbass husband would be different than what it might be today.  If she’s not just a Mommy Pence wannabe it will have the words “stupid” and “motherfucker” in the comment.

  35. Took part in a 3rd-party zoom call at work today.  It’s looking more like 2022 or 2023 before we get anything that looks like normal.   They were trying to be non-partisan, looking forward to the next quarter, but the vibe was definitely anti-tRUMP.  (I put a sticky note on my monitor when tRUMP’s slide came up.)   A bit of discussion on CRAs when President Biden is sworn in.    Gotta start looking past the word election and to the actual swearing in of Biden.  Final consensus:  BUSINESSES NEED MORE STIMULUS MONEY, NOW!

  36. The one glimmer of hope I have in all this mess is that Secretaries of State tend to be somewhat insistent on their prerogatives.  The Constitutions position on states rights back them up.  Even the most ardent Republicans holding the office would probably have a thing or two to say about how they handle elections and returns in each state.

     

  37. Too kind Jaime
    the Republican Secretaries of State have as a goal voter suppression

  39. Cornyn is trying to use pics of MJ Hegar’s tattoos to make her look like a radical woman.  Her response: She’s proud of her ink, which she got to help cover her shrapnel scars.  💜 
    Then, we have Beth Van dime (I won’t use her full name) standing  with a bunch of white cops, trying to appeal to suburban racists.   Disgusting.  
    RBG special on PBS, right now!!!

  40. KGC

    While they might have not problem suppression of voters, that is slightly different than being told they can’t count and all the votes have to be thrown out. 

    Slim hope I know, but I’m scrounging for crumbs of hope here.

     

  41. It’s a herd immunity thing. The more of those gop swine get the virus, the more people will be immune to the gop swine.  
    It’s a jungle out there.

  43. “ Cornyn is trying to use pics of MJ Hegar’s tattoos to make her look like a radical woman.” -BiD
     
    Haha, he must not realize tattoos are socially-acceptable now, especially among women.  Goodbye, dinosaurs! 

    Tats are very popular with the GOP meat-eaters, too. Wtf is Cornyn thinking?

  47. Cornyn is a year younger than me and spent exactly as much time in VN as I did – none. He graduated from college a year before me and somehow didn’t go to VM. I’m sure his dad, USAF colonel, was very proud. ~~~

  49. Cornyn will be force-fed a term limit, this time.    The only ad I’ve seen of his is a woman discussing tape victims; he just pops up at the end to approve the message.  Hmmm, what about Donald J. tRUMP’s rape victims?   As for the ink,      please, give MJ another opportunity to remind folks she earned a Purple Heart.  She doesn’t back away from anything.  She owns her sh/+ and Repugz don’t know what to do with a woman like that.  

  50. Why would people who served their country in uniform vote for a draft-dodger? 
     
    Still can’t wrap my pea-brain around that one.

  52. If you’re a veteran and i just insulted you, then prove me wrong- don’t vote for a fucking draft-dodger.
     
    Fun fact- i was abused by a Viet-Nam veteran!  He wasn’t a bad person, just severely fucked-up from that war.  He was maladjusted and i was there.
     
    My point is: i’ve paid a higher price for the Viet-Nam war than Trump has and I WASN’T EVEN BORN.
     
    Please don’t elect a fucking draft-dodger.

  53. Bink, WADR, if you’ve never lived under the threat of the draft with a war waging, you’ve got no idea what you’re talkIng about. BUT, with respect to Dumbass, yes, you’re right. His VN was protection by a (then) $.25 bathroom vending machine condom. (Beware the “French ticklers” – they were feathers.)

  54. Let’s not take the bait. After a day of thinking about Trump threats to steal the election I’m with the camp seeing this as just another phony voter suppression ploy to discourage Democrats.

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