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Since there now is a reasonable possibility President Trump will be defeated this November, let's consider this scenario, which will not include the names of any persona.
What will happen if the sitting President refuses to yield the power of the office and further refuses to leave the White House? This I know is simply horrifying, and would simply destroy the US's standing as the premier example that democracies governed by a constitution, which has been enacted by the people, survive. In our case, forty three Presidents have peacefully surrendered their power to successors forty four times.
What would happen if an incumbent president chose not to surrender the office to a duly elected successor?
So far as I know, the power automatically transfers to the incoming President at 12N ET January 20, but it would just be the "blackest Black eye" that the US could ever suffer.
The former President would be guilty of nothing more than trespass. He is no longer Commander in Chief of the armed forces; all he has is the Secret Service detail afforded any former president. I don't think they are about to get into a shootout with the other Secret Service agents who now work for the incoming President. While still in office, the outgoing President could order the White House surrounded by military assets, but at 12N they all stand down.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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The Secret Service agents guarding Trump would have a duty to protect him from bodily harm, not tonot to keep him in command or keep him from being arrested by whatever legal authority has a Warren on him.My question is what if he asks his MAGA minions to surround the White House, protecting him? Will the Army have to use deadly force to make them disperse? Even worse, and I fear more likely, what if Trump & co. use this current situation to delay the election for months? Or indefinitely? Or cancel it outright? Don't think they wouldn't. And don't think the GOP won't go along.The Republican Party as it is now bears no resemblance to the Party of Eisenhower or Dirksen or Theodore Roosevelt. This Republican party uses voter suppression and intimidation and gerrymandering to give themselves power far beyond their actual numbers.They can't win a fair fight. And when they DO lose, they find a way to still win. When they lost control of Wisconsin and Michigan they passed a law keeping the incoming Democrat Governors from changing any of their laws.Remember 2000 election? Republican crowds demonstrated demanding all the votes NOT be counted,so they could win. This predates Trump; the GOP is only interested in keeping itself in power. This is the TRUMP Party in all but name, which he will add to it after the election like all his other properties.With a completely compliant Senate, Attorney General, and Supreme Court, he very well could pull it off.
Posts: 510 | From: Richmond VA USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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This (the original premise) was so irrational I did not know how to answer it, but I will try. I think any attempt to ignore the plain requirements for election, respecting the outcome thereof, and term limits on the president would cause much of Trump's support to evaporate instantly.
Many of the 2016 voters for Trump picked him as the "least bad" recognizing that a vote for a "third party" candidate was essentially throwing their vote away, thereby giving the office to Hillary. (By the way she DID NOT have a majority, but only a plurality, so without the Electoral College, there would have to have been a runoff.) Many if not most of those same "least bad" voters for Trump have turned to Trump supporters. The near irrational hatred of much of the media and those in the Democratic Party has actually worked in Trump's favor. His appointment of strict constructionist judges is one of the strong positive for many people. The enthusiasm that both Biden and particularly Sanders have for increased government regulation and a flexible Constitution turns off many voters.
There is a perception by many people that many in the Democratic Party and the majority of the Media, which seems to function as a mouthpiece for the Democrats despise the man and want to get rid of him by any means, fair or foul,with the Impeachment being more foul that fair.
The nearest thing we ever had to self anointed royalty in the White House was the Kennedy's, particularly Jackie. She stayed in the White House how many days after John was shot? I don't remember, but it was quite a few. For comparison, Eleanor Roosevelt moved out of the White House the next day or two after FDR died, and that after being First Lady for three full terms and into the forth.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Just a thought: It has been suggested to me that if the election doesn't happen, Trump and Pence's terms still expire automatically on Inaugural Day and the Presidency goes to third in line Speaker of the House. If true, that would be a game changer!
Posts: 510 | From: Richmond VA USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Without passing any judgement on Speaker Pelosi's fitness to hold the office, let us hope that with adherence to the worldwide "social distancing" protocols now in place, such a doomsday scenario will not move forward.
Ben Franklin's dire prediction "well you have a Republic; if you can keep it" could well come into place.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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