As long ago as the first year of the Trump administration, I made the prediction that he would resist leaving office, that he would act to somehow ‘suspend’ the election or simply refuse to acknowledge defeat. I claim no special prescience; that’s what authoritarians do.
What do you know? I’m not the only person who is worried about this.
In October, President Trump declares a state of emergency in major cities in battleground states, like Milwaukee and Detroit, banning polling places from opening.
A week before the election, Attorney General William P. Barr announces a criminal investigation into the Democratic presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr.
After Mr. Biden wins a narrow Electoral College victory, Mr. Trump refuses to accept the results, won’t leave the White House and declines to allow the Biden transition team customary access to agencies before the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Far-fetched conspiracy theories? Not to a group of worst-case scenario planners …
Can anybody, anywhere, imagine such contingency planning being needful under any previous president? Not me, and I’m glad there are some people in important places who recognize the danger — because I am certain the sycophantic whores who surround Trump recognize the opportunity.