President Donald Trump is openly hinting at taking over the midterm elections by declaring a national emergency.

Newsmax’s Wayne Allen Root interviewed Trump just after midnight Tuesday morning, and said that Trump had the right to declare a national security emergency next month, forcing through photo identification, proof of citizenship, limits on mail-in ballots, and other heavy voting restrictions. Trump seemed to like that suggestion, but didn’t want to tip his hand.

“Let me just say stranger things have happened, okay? I’ll leave it at that,” Trump said.

Trump is afraid of massive Republican losses in November’s midterms, and has been unsuccessfully pushing his allies in Congress to pass the draconian SAVE Act. With that appearing more unlikely each day, Democrats and other Trump critics are raising concerns that he may take drastic action, such as declaring a national emergency and maybe deploying legions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the polls.

In fact, Democrats have been trying for close to a year to get documents from the Department of Homeland Security regarding its policies and memos on sending ICE agents to polls. Agents were seen at polling places in Texas during its May primaries and in California in June, but when Democrats used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate, they were sent useless press clippings.

If Trump tries to invoke national security to take over federal elections, it would shatter precedent and could set off lawsuits and protests across the country. His repeated, disproven claims about voter fraud and rigged elections suggest that he’ll make the same excuses in November. The question is how to ensure a fair and accurate result that can stand up to his attacks.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    7 days ago

    It doesn’t matter. This is going to be like 2020, where the outrage was so strong that it overwhelmed all their cheating schemes. That’s why he’s so fixated on that race. He knows he cheated, and should have won. If Biden won, it can only mean that he must have cheated worse, so if he can find evidence of Dem cheating, it will be end of the Dems, and MAGA will be in power forever.

    He can’t possibly believe that Biden had that many legal votes, because them he’d have to believe that he’s hated that much, and he thinks people love him.

    It’s how a dumb 9 year-old thinks, but that’s Trump.

  • abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Just so we are clear, taking acts to directly impede the democratic process across the country.

    That’s High Treason, right?

  • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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    7 days ago

    How are you all feeling about Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong’s last second loss to Crowley in the Wisconsin primary after five USBs had the “wrong info” and a huge vote dump at the end to give the establishment Dem the win despite trailing massively? Myself, I’m of the opinion we can’t trust our elections

  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    C’mon father time! What the hell is keeping you. And bring your friend with the scythe.

  • disorderly@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    We need to all be eyeing the break glass solution: a general strike. If Trump subverts the elections, then we turn off the economy until fair elections are held.

    • AmyAye@nord.pub
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      8 days ago

      I feel like fucking with the election could actually be the trigger for more people to actually act and even march in mass on Waahington. Its the one thing I can think of that I would very likely go for.

      It would basically be the final break for “Are we permenantly broken as a country.”

      • FlexibleToast@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I don’t know. We let an insurrection happen and then re-elected the leader of it. Not sure how many final lines we can have to cross. I think our government has already proven it’s completely broken and needs to be replaced.

          • EldritchFemininity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            8 days ago

            You do realize how close we were to elected officials hanging from the gallows on the front steps of the capitol, right? 1 locked door and a half dozen cops.

            But regardless, the point is that the ringleader was never punished, and he was reelected and is sitting in the Oval Office right now talking about committing more election fraud after Elon “fixed those machines right up” in 2024.

      • ViceroTempus@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Is that right? Because I’m not convinced. Even with data like this the knowledge of Trump’s remarks about Elon “knowing computers”, his completely lackluster few rallies before the 2024 elections, the bomb threats, the millions of mail-in ballots in ditches, and the various other election interference, we still haven’t organized as a nation and removed the cheater.

        In fact getting most people to actually look at the data is like pulling teeth.
        I think instead we’ll just roll over like the livestock we are for our oligarchic masters, as we’ve done so far.

        Would love to be proven wrong though. Please my fellow Americans, prove my doubts wrong. Organize and become Wolves.

      • hoppeduponcoffee@lemmy.zip
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        8 days ago

        We need to start getting ready for the mass strike right now. The one that temporarily shuts off power plants, water treatment plans and grinds the entire economy to a halt. Evaporating 50% of their stock market assets should grab their attention.

      • OwOarchist@pawb.social
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        8 days ago

        If striking is breaking glass, what would civil war be?

        When they send in the cops and military to try and force people back to work, and people start shooting back.

      • AmyAye@nord.pub
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        8 days ago

        How does that even work? Its not “North and South”, its racist idiots in the sticks and everyone else.

    • edible_funk@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      A general strike is functionally impossible in the US. You’d need every major industry, every freight industry, and every service industry nationwide onboard. Most of the workers in those industries can’t afford a weeks long strike. You’d need every major port on board. You’d need the capitalists to coordinate it because Americans fucking hate each other. We will have an open civil war with atrocities every day before we have a general strike.

      • ViceroTempus@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Which is why I believe a rent/mortgage strike is far more viable. Builds up our resources as the working class, instead of depleting them. Imagine just a single month of no rent/mortgatge how much you could stock up in terms of supplies for a general strike.

        Now imagine a whole neighborhood doing that, a whole town, a whole city, a whole state. It would do severe economical damage, and possibly even crash housing prices.

        Especially if paired with weaponizing local homeless populations by encouraging them to take residence in the various empty homes we have here in the U.S.(which last I think I heard was like 22 empty homes for every homeless person).

    • littlewonder@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      IIRC, in the decades leading up to the 20th century, workers and other pro-labor bamfs in the US would go on parades around town to signal their collective strength to the bourgeoisie/industrialists and intimidate them into compliance.

      Bring back the bullying of capitalists, please. Also, who doesn’t love a parade?

    • Bluedragon012@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Now get people to actually do it. I’ll gladly do it but I don’t think my neighbors would. not because they are on the side of evil, but because they can’t afford a day without money. (At least that’s what they think, the reality though might be different)

    • Carmakazi@piefed.social
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      8 days ago

      These people will rake you down with belt-fed machine guns before they acquiesce to “public pressure” to resign their most powerful office.

      But they won’t have to, because they just have to ignore you like No Kings and then you’ll go home.

    • Atomic@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      The boring truth about that is that those third world countries are often dependent on foreign aid. And one of the conditions to keep recieving aid, is that UN is allowed to place observers and make sure the election is free and fair

  • danc4498@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    “Let me just say stranger things have happened, okay? I’ll leave it at that,” Trump said.

    I’d love to hear some specifics. I doesn’t feel like things have ever been this crazy.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      Jim Crow only existed because whites were able to threaten and prevent blacks from voting (Thanks, Johnson).

      Hitler basically had a coup handed to him but stayed technically “elected” again via fear and fraud.

      There’s a lot of crazy shit Republicans are doing and courts are allowing that should be unthinkable.

  • Atomic@sh.itjust.works
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    7 days ago

    If Trump tries to invoke national security to take over federal elections, it would shatter precedent and could set off lawsuits and protests across the country

    Oh no… not lawsuits and protests! That will spell doom for him. No way he could ever recover from that.

  • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    This was the plan since day 1. Don’t act surprised now or when there are armed men at polling stations on Election Day.

  • bunnybunny@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

    He isn’t ‘mulling’ it or even considering it, it’s already set into motion. They’re going to steal the midterms. Everybody knows except for the American people it seems who will gladly except their already shithole country will become that even more

    • datrenaissancebro@mtgzone.com
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      8 days ago

      I think you’ll find that many Americans see this as the last bit of faith in the system they have left. If it gets pulled out of their hands, you’re going to see a very different type of American.

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Is there any legal precedent for what happens when would-be voters are detained in front of polls by federal agents for bullshit reasons that definitely have nothing to do with their voter registration? If not, I’m sure there will be.

    • OwOarchist@pawb.social
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      8 days ago

      Yep. There will be many such cases. Held for 24 hours, then released without charges. But, oops! They missed the election and couldn’t vote!

      They can sue, and maybe even get some money out of it months or years later, but the election is already over and they still can’t cast their vote.

      • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        This is what’s most likely to happen imo. And if any single polling station faces “resistance” he’ll just use it to lock the whole country down.

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          There aren’t enough federal agents. Even ice, to make a gigantic impact here.

          This will only be a small part of the play.

          • jj4211@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            For midterms for the house, sure there are

            They already rigged districts and can focus such efforts on a handful of districts. Similar story for statewide elections, interfere with a single big city in a state and that could assure a senator.

  • ChonkyLincoln@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

    The Antichrist who hates America and is raping children while stealing billions doesn’t want to be held accountable? Crazy!