Name: Trump: ‘Get Rid of the Ballots … There Won’t Be a Transfer’ of Power
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Trump: ‘Get Rid of the Ballots … There Won’t Be a Transfer’ of Power

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Please read our updated and , effective on December 19, 2019.On Wednesday, a reporter asked a question no reporter would ever have bothered to ask a president before: “Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?”Trump would not commit. “We’re going to have to see what happens,” he said. “We want to get rid of the ballots, and we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.”Reporter: "Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?"President Trump: "We're going to have to see what happens." — NBC News (@NBCNews)That is certainly true — get rid of the ballots, and there won’t be a transfer of power. Most likely, Trump is using “ballots” as shorthand for mail-in ballots, which Democrats — generally more resistant to Trump’s denial of the coronavirus — are employing in far greater numbers. The effect is the same: His plan is to quash the ballots and stay in power.Like many Trumpian outrages, the president is smashing norms so frequently that each new offense blends into all the others, dulling the system’s capacity for alarm. Earlier this summer, when Chris Wallace asked him if he would accept the result of the election, Trump demurred. “I have to see. Look … I have to see,” he replied, “No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”Recently he has been citing the need for a ninth Supreme Court justice to resolve a dispute in his favor. “I think it’s better if you go before the election, because I think this scam that the Democrats are pulling — it’s a scam — the scam will be before the United States Supreme Court,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation, if you get that. I don’t know that you’d get that. I think it should be 8-0 or 9-0, but just in case it would be more political than it should be, I think it’s very important to have a ninth justice.”Note that Republicans already have five seats on the Supreme Court. Trump believes the 5-3 conservative majority is not enough to uphold whatever maneuvers he has in mind.The Atlantic’s Barton Gellman on the most concerning possibility: that Trump will first claim victory before mail ballots are tabulated, and then prevail on Republican-controlled state legislatures to appoint their state’s electoral college votes to Trump, circumventing the votes altogether.Viewing this scenario as a probability would be hysterical. But the odds are far too high for comfort. The brewing crisis has several components. First, the Republican Party has been authoritarianism for decades, driven by a combination of beliefs that demographic change will them to minority status forever, and that allowing the majority to redistribute the income of the rich to itself is a dire threat to liberty.Second, Republican voters and elites have believed for years that urban Democrats routinely engage in mass voter fraud, and refuse to accept any falsification. (The George W. Bush administration ordered prosecutors to bring charges of voter fraud, and when they couldn’t turn up any.)And third, the rickety Constitutional structure is poorly-suited to handle a disputed election. One of its massive loopholes allows state legislatures to ignore voters altogether and appoint any electors they want to the Electoral College. Respecting the results of the election is merely optional, a norm. And norms have been falling by the wayside.Into this mix has dropped a narcissistic, aspirational authoritarian who has no respect for the greater good and has spent years drinking deeply from the conspiratorial well of Fox News. Trump is the driver of the crisis, but he has demonstrated the capacity to bring Republicans along with his most unhinged positions. It is not merely a fear of alienating the voting base that adores his bullying style that disciplines them.Many Republican elites either admire Trump, or — more commonly — believe he poses less of a threat than Joe Biden’s Democrats. George W. Bush speechwriter , an archetypical Republican elite, has a column insisting Biden poses a more serious threat to democracy than Trump, because Biden would support reforms (like D.C. statehood, eliminating the filibuster, supposedly eliminating the Electoral College) that would force Republicans to win a national majority to hold power, which they implicitly consider impossible. Put aside the fact that Biden will likely enact few, if any, of the left’s democratization reforms, or that even a completely democratized system would have a Republican tilt and give the party plenty of chances to compete.Biden is currently on the cusp of a victory decisive enough that Trump’s machinations probably cannot stop it. Florida, which is roughly tied, tabulates mail-in ballots quickly, and a Biden win could cut short Trump’s room for mischief.It should be apparent that all Americans who wish to have a future for democracy have to vote for Biden regardless of their position on any other issue.Analysis and commentary on the latest political news from New York columnist Jonathan Chait.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Googleandapply.Terms &amp; Privacy NoticeTHE FEEDNot exactly hiding his intentions hereTrump tells reporters he wants a replacement for RBG quickly as he believes 2020 election will end up going to SCOTUS: “Yes, I think it’s very important. I think this will end up in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.”—The message that results might take a while is sinking in63% of likely voters say they don’t think we will know the winner of the presidential election on election night via new Quinnipiac poll. That includes 64% of Republicans, 64% of Democrats and 60% of independents.—An aggressive move on fossil fuels from CaliforniaReuters: California will ban the sale of new gasoline powered passenger cars and trucks starting in 2035 in a dramatic move to shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday.—After months of protests in Louisville and around the countryLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Grand jury indicts 1 officer on criminal charges 6 months after Breonna Taylor fatally shot by police in Kentucky.—This might have something to do with trying to win FloridaJust in: The Trump admin announces US citizens visiting Cuba will no longer be able to buy cigars, rum or stay in Cuban government owned hotels.—Some tense moments between Fauci and Covid downplayer Rand Paul this morningFauci aggressively pushes back at Rand Paul’s continued narrative that NYC’s infection rate is &lt; 1% due to herd immunity. Fauci notes that if he thinks 22% of the pop. constitutes herd immunity, “he’s alone”. Fauci instead points to mask wearing &amp; social distancing as factors.—The latest COVID-19 vaccine to enter the final stage of trials is easier to store and administerThe first&nbsp;&nbsp;that aims to protect people with a single shot has entered the&nbsp;&nbsp;in the United States in an international trial that will recruit up to 60,000 participants.The experimental vaccine being developed by pharmaceutical giant Johnson &amp; Johnson is the fourth vaccine to enter the&nbsp;&nbsp;in the United States that will determine whether they are effective and safe. Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of J&amp;J, predicted that there may be enough data to have results by the end of the year and said the company plans to manufacture 1 billion doses next year.Three other vaccine candidates have a head start, with U.S. trials that began earlier in the summer, but the vaccine being developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a division of J&amp;J, has several advantages that could make it logistically easier to administer and distribute if it is proved safe and effective.The company is initially testing a single dose, whereas the other vaccines being tested in the United States require a return visit and second shot three to four weeks after the first one to trigger a protective immune response. The J&amp;J vaccine can also be stored in liquid form at refrigerator temperatures for three months, whereas two of the front-runner candidates must be frozen or kept at ultracold temperatures for long-term storage.—Trump’s reported disdain for the military moved Cindy McCain from offering kind words about Biden during the DNC to actually endorsing himCindy McCain endorsed&nbsp;Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president on Tuesday.“My husband John lived by a code: country first,” McCain. “We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.”Her announcement came a few hours after Biden said McCain would be endorsing him during a virtual fundraiser. Biden said at the event that the widow of Republican Sen. John McCain decided to support him following a damning report by The Atlantic that said President Donald Trump had called fallen war veterans “suckers.”“Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’m about to go on one of these Zooms with John McCain’s wife, who is, first time ever, is endorsing me because of what he talks about with my son and John’s who are heroes, who served their country, you know he said they’re losers, they’re suckers,” Biden said according to a pool report of the event.—The Trump administration has deliberately undermined the censusA new Commerce Dept OIG report concludes:“I. The decision to accelerate the Census schedule was not made by the Census Bureau.II. The accelerated schedule increases the risks to obtaining a complete and accurate 2020 Census.”(This is what a politicized census looks like.)—But he’s still going to be asked about this at every debateJoe Biden on expanding Supreme Court: “It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not going answer. Because it will shift the focus…Let’s say I answer that question, then the whole debate’s gonna be about what Biden said or didn’t say.”—How COVID-19 could come home for the holidaysNew&nbsp;&nbsp;from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the upcoming holiday season warns that hosts and attendees at holiday celebrations will need to take steps to limit the risk of contracting and spreading the novel coronavirus. …Instead of communal, potluck-style food, hosts can ask attendees to bring their own, the CDC said. Cutting down on shared items by having one person serve, and getting single-use plates and condiments, are also recommended, according to the CDC.Traditional celebrations like Halloween trick-or-treating, large indoor Día de los Muertos gatherings, crowded Thanksgiving parades and Black Friday shopping sprees could spread the virus and should be avoided, according to the guidance. The CDC recommends alternatives such as virtual Halloween costume contests, holding a small dinner for household members and shopping online.—Sign In to Comment

Please read our updated and , effective on December 19, 2019.On Wednesday, a reporter asked a question no reporter would ever have bothered to ask a president before: “Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?”Trump would not commit. “We’re going to have to see what happens,” he said. “We want to get rid of the ballots, and we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.”Reporter: "Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of...

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Jonathan Chait

New York is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite, and established itself as a cradle of New Journalism. Over time, it became more national in scope, publishing many noteworthy articles on American culture by writers such as Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, Nora Ephron, John Heilemann, Frank Rich, and Rebecca Traister.

Trump: ‘Get Rid of the Ballots … There Won’t Be a Transfer’ of Power

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