Salt of the earth he’s not. Salt the earth he might.
The headline on Thomas B. Edsall’s column is attention-getting enough: How Far Might Trump Go?
Go, as in fighting tooth-and-nail to snatch (or rig) a victory from vote totals next Tuesday night (election night) that how him losing reelection.
“The president might attempt to defy even a landslide in the popular vote in battleground states,” Edward B. Foley, a constitutional law professor at Ohio State, outlined in a 2019 paper. His worst-case scenario involved Trump announcing victory after early results show him ahead in Pennsylvania. As votes trickle in and his lead evaporates, Trump could lean on Republicans in control of the state legislature to reject “some or all mailed-in ballots, and subsequently choosing a slate of pro-Trump electors to cast the state’s 20 Electoral College votes for the incumbent.”
But that paper is from a year ago. Today, with half of 2016 votes already cast, such a scenario could be wiped away like a sandcastle by a tide of popular votes against an unpopular president.
That’s not to say a post-election apocalypse of legal (and perhaps street) battles could not manifest. Edsall cites several election-watchers whose jobs it is to ponder worst-case scenarios. Barton Gellman, Rick Hasen, and others consider how “the red mirage” and “the blue shift” might whipsaw public perceptions of the outcome in the days and weeks following Nov. 3. Should the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr become involved, resolving who won the election could become a horror show that simply arrives late for Halloween.
But too few are considering what Trump might do with his remaining term after an irrefutable crushing defeat. Offices where I’ve worked, once the boss calls you into his office to give you notice you might (might) be allowed to work out the day. As likely as not, they lock you out of the computer, have you collect things from your desk, and escort you out the door lest you work some mischief before leaving.
Trump will get 79 days to do whatever Mr. “I love getting even with people” feels disloyalty to his Person demands. “If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard,” is his motto. He might be too busy getting even to plan for how he stays out of jail in New York state. What havoc might he and his minions wreak on agencies they have not already wrecked?
I have no contacts in Washington, D.C. to walk me through what procedures are in place to prevent malicious mischief during a normal transition. And Donald J. Trump is Abby something.
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