What if Trump Refuses to Concede in 2020?

[SLD]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

 

[laughing dog]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

If the election results are clear and Trump loses, I seriously doubt the courts would back him up. I seriously doubt the Senate or the House (regardless who is in the majority) would back him. And, I doubt the military or the Secret Service would obey him since he no longer would the legitimate Commander in Chief.

If he would no leave the White House, I suppose the duly elected POTUS would have him evicted.

 

[Politesse]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

He's asked to leave, and arrested if he doesn't. He has no authority, and more importantly, no protection from legal action, without a legal election. Why on earth do you think the courts would punt? They're conservatives, not insurrectionists.

 

[SLD]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

If the election results are clear and Trump loses, I seriously doubt the courts would back him up. I seriously doubt the Senate or the House (regardless who is in the majority) would back him. And, I doubt the military or the Secret Service would obey him since he no longer would the legitimate Commander in Chief.

If he would no leave the White House, I suppose the duly elected POTUS would have him evicted.

I don’t think it would be that simple. The electoral college would technically elect the President, but Congress counts the votes. If Trump is saying it was all the result of foreign interference and filing legal challenges and the rank and file republicans refusing to accept the defeat, the Senate, controlled by McConnell, could refuse to ratify the results. DOJ is controlled by Barr, and he orders all of his officials to stand down until the Senate ratifies the results. So no US Marshall is going to arrest or evict the President. Same with Esper at DoD. The Courts would say they can’t do anything until the Senate acts Orr some other bullshit dodge to avoid making a tough decision. But McConnell says we have to get to the bottom of this before anyone can certify the results. Or he agrees that it’s the result of massive voter fraud, or foreign interference. It will only take four years to get to the bottom of this. After which Ivanka Trump gets elected.

SLD

 

[Keith&Co.]

Meh. All of those people still want some sort of job after the dust settles.
They side with Trump now to get max profit and minimum oversight from the dotard, but i don't think anyone in actual power wants to go down in flames with him.

 

[SLD]

Meh. All of those people still want some sort of job after the dust settles.
They side with Trump now to get max profit and minimum oversight from the dotard, but i don't think anyone in actual power wants to go down in flames with him.

I hope you’re right. Our Democratic institutions are dependent on people upholding them. Every member of Congress, every State representative, every military officer, every federal official, every judge, takes an oath to the Constitution. If they refuse en masse to uphold that oath we're fucked.

SLD

 

[laughing dog]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

If the election results are clear and Trump loses, I seriously doubt the courts would back him up. I seriously doubt the Senate or the House (regardless who is in the majority) would back him. And, I doubt the military or the Secret Service would obey him since he no longer would the legitimate Commander in Chief.

If he would no leave the White House, I suppose the duly elected POTUS would have him evicted.

I don’t think it would be that simple. The electoral college would technically elect the President, but Congress counts the votes. If Trump is saying it was all the result of foreign interference and filing legal challenges and the rank and file republicans refusing to accept the defeat, the Senate, controlled by McConnell, could refuse to ratify the results. DOJ is controlled by Barr, and he orders all of his officials to stand down until the Senate ratifies the results. So no US Marshall is going to arrest or evict the President. Same with Esper at DoD. The Courts would say they can’t do anything until the Senate acts Orr some other bullshit dodge to avoid making a tough decision. But McConnell says we have to get to the bottom of this before anyone can certify the results. Or he agrees that it’s the result of massive voter fraud, or foreign interference. It will only take four years to get to the bottom of this. After which Ivanka Trump gets elected.

SLD

I think none of those people have big enough balls to do as you fear.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I don’t think it would be that simple. The electoral college would technically elect the President, but Congress counts the votes. If Trump is saying it was all the result of foreign interference and filing legal challenges and the rank and file republicans refusing to accept the defeat, the Senate, controlled by McConnell, could refuse to ratify the results. DOJ is controlled by Barr, and he orders all of his officials to stand down until the Senate ratifies the results. So no US Marshall is going to arrest or evict the President. Same with Esper at DoD. The Courts would say they can’t do anything until the Senate acts Orr some other bullshit dodge to avoid making a tough decision. But McConnell says we have to get to the bottom of this before anyone can certify the results. Or he agrees that it’s the result of massive voter fraud, or foreign interference. It will only take four years to get to the bottom of this. After which Ivanka Trump gets elected.

SLD

I think none of those people have big enough balls to do as you fear.

Based on my experience with military and bureaucracy, the biggest problem will be shrugging.
People will know it is wrong, but not feel that it is their job to fix it, not their place to force someone else to do his job.
They won't actively break the law for Trump's tantrum, but large numbers of them will wait for someone else to say, NO! We are not getting on board thus crazy train. Inertia...

Luckily, since we're already discussing this possibility, there are people preparing to be that voice of oh-fucks-to-that. Whoever runs against him will probably already have a game plan, which goes into effect the day after the election, for a hostile transition.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

The Secret Service would cut off the supply of McDonalds cheese burgers to the White House. He'd last two days at best.

 

[barbos]

If People around presidents (in general) had balls to pull such thing off they would not had allowed Trump to become a president in the first place.
Trump has no loyal supporters in the political class.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I think Trump will leave office if he loses.

UNLESS, it's by a very very small margin. Then he will say it's because of all the illegal aliens who voted. The right-wing noise machine will support him with non-stop news on voting problems and illegal aliens etc. So there would be no Republican opposition to his move.

Basically, picture Gore/Bush all over again but magnify it 10x.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I think Trump will leave office if he loses.

UNLESS, it's by a very very small margin.

How small?
This is the guy who insists his loss-by-millions in the popular vote was an actual landslide...

 

[Elixir]

I don’t think it would be that simple. The electoral college would technically elect the President, but Congress counts the votes. If Trump is saying it was all the result of foreign interference and filing legal challenges and the rank and file republicans refusing to accept the defeat, the Senate, controlled by McConnell, could refuse to ratify the results. DOJ is controlled by Barr, and he orders all of his officials to stand down until the Senate ratifies the results. So no US Marshall is going to arrest or evict the President. Same with Esper at DoD. The Courts would say they can’t do anything until the Senate acts Orr some other bullshit dodge to avoid making a tough decision. But McConnell says we have to get to the bottom of this before anyone can certify the results. Or he agrees that it’s the result of massive voter fraud, or foreign interference. It will only take four years to get to the bottom of this. After which Ivanka Trump gets elected.

SLD

I think none of those people have big enough balls to do as you fear.

I fear that they lack the balls to refuse to do what they're told by the Trump Junta.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Trump is basically a pussy. Very loud and abrasive and full of swagger (about the Lakeland shooting: 'I would have tried to go in there even if I didn't have a gun', etc, etc, ad nauseam...) but doesn't do the dirty work himself. If he lost, he would continue to do his rallies, because they are the single biggest hyperventilated orgasm available. But he'd leave the WH, while telling us how more luxurious his own shitty resorts are.
No, the real spectacle, if he loses, will be the time-honored limo ride to the inauguration. Whoever defeats Trump (hopefully, that is) will, in telling the truth about him, use language that has never been used against an incumbent Pres. Trump actually is a President who has betrayed his oath of office over and over. He is publicly crude, obscene, deceitful, belligerent, as we have never seen before. My prediction is that Trump will be a 'maverick' and 'norm violator' all over again, just as a child in diapers behaves as if there's no social contract. He'll refuse to accompany the new Pres to the ceremony on the grounds that the Democrat is a "horrible, nasty person" who has said unforgivable things and that Trump cannot be expected to share a car ride with him/her. Trump will be in the air an hour ahead of time. Can anyone imagine him sitting in the stands in his hour of defeat? He's too small to consider that.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

Feargasms are always self-induced.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Who fucking cares if he doesn't concede? At noon on January 21st, he no longer has any authority and anyone who obeys one of his orders over President Biden's orders is fired. It's one thing to join in a noble struggle against the librul oppressors who tried to steal the White House and it's another thing to do that while dodging bill collectors who are telling you that your electricity is about to get cut off due to nonpayment.

 

[Terrell]

Dems need to worry about making his concession necessary. IF they fail to win the election it becomes moot.

 

[Playball40]

I used to believe that logic and rational thought would prevail. Then dipshit was elected. I no longer believe that.

In 2016, Trump threatened not to concede if he lost to HRC. But of course it was an empty threat because he had no power. Obama controlled the executive branch and would have simply handed over to HRC in January regardless. But now he’s saying the same thing again, but this time he controls the machinery of power. The heads of the Departments are his appointees, like Barr at Justice, and Esper at DoD. Who would enforce the election results? I suspect the courts would punt.

Would mass protests do the trick? Bureaucratic insurrection? Military refusing to obey his orders? What happens exactly?

SLD

If the election results are clear and Trump loses, I seriously doubt the courts would back him up. I seriously doubt the Senate or the House (regardless who is in the majority) would back him. And, I doubt the military or the Secret Service would obey him since he no longer would the legitimate Commander in Chief.

If he would no leave the White House, I suppose the duly elected POTUS would have him evicted.

 

[Gun Nut]

Trump is going to win the next election, to no credit of his own... it's all you Dems (I mean anti-American Socialists ) just setting him up for the win with your 20 candidates, crystal powers lady and all.
But anyway... the hypothetical situation where he actually loses the electoral college (ya right)...

He would make huge claims and make a huge show about the idea of "suing to stay in office".. and probably even get the AG to say something like "The president's claims have merit", at least. He might find 1 or two reps in Senate to back him... but it would be all bluster that is just the setup for the pilot episode of Trump TV... his next big endeavor that he already started the plan for with Roger Ailes before he died in 2017.