Trump and the dangers to American democracy from his refusal to accept defeat
In the absence of evidence to support the election fraud charge, outgoing President Donald Trump devises other strategies to try to retain power. Maneuvers that in other countries would be classified as coup plotters. What is Trump's plan to achieve reelection despite the results? What risks loom over democracy in the United States?
The following events that occur in the United States would be classified as an attempted coup in any other country:
With automatic rifles around their necks, Trump-allied armed militias guard polling stations in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada where votes are finished counting. Supporters shout "stop the robbery" and denounce electoral fraud without offering proof.
After losing the elections democratically, Trump fires his Secretary of Defense, the highest military authority, and places Christopher Miller, recently appointed director of the National Counterterrorism Center, in his position. Someone with little experience in ministerial positions who follows the slogan of being faithful to the president, as highlighted by Adam Smith, a Democratic congressman and chairman of the Committee on Military Services
William Barr, Trump's appointed attorney general, authorizes the Justice Department to begin an election investigation without having evidence of alleged voter fraud.
"There will be a peaceful transition to a second term from President Trump after we count all the legal votes," says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
These events have led several opinion leaders to say that "Trump is attempting a coup in plain sight," as stated by Ezra Klein, director and editor-in-chief of 'Vox Media'. Klein adds that there is an attempt at autocracy and even if it is not successful, Trump will build a government in exile, parallel, an "alternative America in which he as the legitimate leader represents a people whose elections have been stolen by corrupt elites." .
An alleged unsubstantiated fraud
Months before Election Day, Trump was already exposing his fraud rhetoric in case he lost. As if preparing his supporters, the tycoon alleged that it was illegal for states to distribute ballots to their citizens by mail, despite limitations due to the pandemic. In addition, the president tried to defund the Postal Service (USPS) to obstruct the electoral process in this way.
A rhetoric that grows with more force despite losing the elections: “Stop the fraud”, “I won this election, by far”, “if the legal votes are counted, I won the election, if the illegal votes are counted and the who arrived late, they can steal our election "," stop the count, we demand transparency, our observers were not allowed to enter the counting rooms, "Trump said.
Several of these allegations have been launched from the president's official Twitter account, to which the social network has responded by marking as inaccurate, refutable and taken out of context more than 68 Trump tweets since May of this year.
Additionally, Trump campaign watchers swore they had access to vote counting posts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada among other states. An access that is allowed in most states where the rules have changed due to the pandemic and the risks of intimidation and harassment by supporters.
In the states in question, state authorities, led in many cases by Republicans, have expressed that there was no electoral fraud and that the president and his campaign have no evidence.
Pennsylvania: The Trump campaign sued because its observers did not have access to the counting stations. However, one of the Republican's campaign attorneys later claimed that they did have access before District Judge Paul S. Diamond.
After these legal battles, Republican observers were allowed to be closer to the counting machines and to separate the votes that arrived after the election, something that had already been approved.
Arizona: Trump supporters alleged that many of their ballots were ignored because they recommended using Sharpie markers. But according to state election officials, "marking the vote with Sharpie is the best option because it dries quickly and machines recognize the vote easily."
Nevada: A group of Trumpistas alleged that thousands of people had voted illegally in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located. But neither the Trump campaign nor the Republican Party have presented evidence of the alleged 10,000 cases of illegal votes.
Georgia: The Republican Party filed a legal action one day after the elections asking that the votes that came after November 3 be separated. They alleged, based on a sworn document, that some votes that arrived late were mixed with votes that were received on time. A state judge ruled against the legal action citing lack of evidence.
Michigan: Trump imposed two lawsuits alleging that the votes had been wrongly counted. But they lost both actions because they had no proof. "The city of Detroit should not be affected when there is no evidence to support allegations of voter fraud," Judge Timothy M. Kenny wrote.
So what is Trump's strategy?
If there is no legal basis, no evidence to justify the alleged theft of the election and the suspension of the count, why does Trump continue with the battery of legal actions and the rhetoric of fraud?
The strategy of the Trump Administration is to go to court to invalidate Biden's votes.
“We are waiting for the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the president has appointed three justices, to get involved and do something. Hopefully Amy Coney Barret will also speak out, ”said Harmeet Dhillon, one of Trump's legal advisers.
The Trump campaign plans to promote the lawsuits through speeches and "media campaign acts" to lengthen the litigation, four strategists from Trump's team told the digital medium 'Axios'. In fact, Trump created the ‘Leadership PAC’ fund to support legal battles and recounts in states that recently won Joe Biden. A fund to which Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from North Carolina, has already donated $ 500,000.
Legal experts argue that the litigation has little chance of success, but Ben Ginsberg, who led George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida recount, assured in '60 minutes' that the strategy is an attempt to delay the certification of the results until after December 14, when the electoral delegates cast the votes entrusted by the people.
Something that would give the Trump campaign the possibility of asking the Republican majorities in state congresses to ignore the will of the voters and they are the ones who choose the electoral delegates who give Trump victory.
On the other hand, there are those who argue that “the strategy to start a legal battle against Biden's votes in Pennsylvania and other states is more to provide Trump with a platform to come out without accepting defeat and not so much as to change the outcome. of the elections, "officials tell the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Trump and his most loyal group aim to keep their extensive supporter base close, even despite defeat.
A power that does not want to lose because it knows that great influence, economic, regional and in a presidential aspiration can be translated within four years, as local media have suggested.
Instability and risks to national security
But ignoring the electoral results and wanting to stay in power would generate a lot of political instability, something that scares investors who seek security and stability in the rules of the game to invest in the country.
Potentially the stock markets would be affected, the credit rating and the investment grade of the country would also go down and this would make the interest rate with which banks lend much more expensive. Investment and the economy could suffer under instability that could generate non-acceptance of the results.
A delay in the transition of power would also have serious consequences for the security of the country: more than 4,000 positions are appointed by the president in about 100 state agencies. Many of these positions require security clearance and authorization from the Ethics Office to ensure there are no conflicts of interest. If Trump does not begin the transition of power soon, many officials will arrive at office without adequate preparation.
Such a scenario has already had serious consequences, as described in the report of the 9/11 attack. There it is highlighted that the delay in the transition between the Clinton and George W. Bush officials, due to the slow counting of votes in Florida, weakened national security and allowed the attacks to be managed more easily.
"Unity is incredible, but freedom is better"
The autocracy looks to the country that fights wars around the world to get rid of dictators. In the face of this threat, critics question the unity approach of President-elect Joe Biden.
"How do you expect to work with Republicans if many of them do not recognize you as president-elect?" A journalist asked Biden at his first press conference after being elected president of the United States. The president-elect replied with a laugh: "They will, they will."
In the same media meeting, Biden said Trump's stance not to admit that the Democrats won the election is "shameful" and that he still hoped to speak with the outgoing president. A diplomatic attitude but perhaps not enough before the legal onslaught of the tycoon.
"Unity is incredible, but freedom is better," says Yvette Simpson, president of Democracy for America, a political action committee. "Yes we want compromise, we do want bipartisanship, but I want the kind of unity that leads to change for the people who have waited for it."
Although Biden exceeded 270 electoral votes to win the presidency after a long count, the United States still does not know if there will be a smooth transition of power as tradition has marked it in different and difficult situations.
