Tag: Trump refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power

‘This is how you normalize a madman’: Scholars and press watchdogs urge corporate media to treat Trump like the authoritarian threat he is

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Major news outlets failed the American people, critics say, when they chose to bury coverage of President Donald Trump’s Wednesday comment that he would not commit to a peaceful transition of power—a statement watchdogs say demanded above-the-fold, front-page headlines that simply did not materialize.

“Newsroom leaders made a considered, intentional decision not to panic after Trump was elected,” Dan Froomkin, editor of PressWatchers.org, wrote in a scathing rebuke of corporate media’s apparent nonchalant attitude towards the president’s rhetoric. “This was an epic, obvious mistake, and everything that has happened since was in some sense entirely predictable.”

Froomkin continued, “They should have gone on a war footing—and by that I don’t mean a partisan war against Trump, I mean a journalistic war against lies, ignorance, and intolerance.”

Critics weighed in on the relative non-importance corporate news outlets assigned—in print and online—to Trump’s latest suggestion that he may not cede the office of the presidency should he lose in November: Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump furor stokes fears of unrest

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Fears are rising across the political spectrum that the nation is close to coming off the rails amid uproar over recent comments by President Trump.

Trump has twice declined in recent days to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses November’s election. His remarks are without any clear precedent.

The comments come at a time when the national fabric is being strained by a number of other factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, protests over racial injustice and a political battle over replacing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week. Continue reading.

At Pentagon, fears grow that Trump will pull military into election unrest

Fears are growing that president will try to order military into streets to quell protests. 

WASHINGTON – Senior Pentagon leaders have a lot to worry about — Afghanistan, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, China, Somalia, the Korean Peninsula. But chief among those concerns is whether their commander in chief might order U.S. troops into any chaos involving the coming elections.

President Donald Trump gave officials no solace Wednesday when he again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power no matter who wins the election. On Thursday, he doubled down by saying he was not sure the election could be “honest.” His hedging, along with his expressed desire in June to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops onto American streets to quell protests over the killing of George Floyd, has caused deep anxiety among senior military and Defense Department leaders, who insist they will do all they can to keep the armed forces out of the elections.

“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military,” Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in written answers to questions from House lawmakers released last month. “In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law, U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military. I foresee no role for the U.S. armed forces in this process.” Continue reading.

Republican lawyers brush off Trump’s election comments

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Conservative lawyers are brushing off President Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden, saying there are safeguards in place to ensure a proper transition whether the president voluntarily leaves office or not.

Several Republican constitutional and election lawyers told The Hill that Trump’s remarks calling into question a peaceful transition were reckless and undermine confidence in the democratic system.

But they agreed Americans should not be worried about the president refusing to leave office after an election loss, saying the executive branch would no longer be under his control and that he’d effectively be removed for trespassing if he tried to stick around. Continue reading.

Republicans try to ‘both sides’ Trump’s comments on peaceful transfer of power

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The president of the United States on Wednesday evening declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the 2020 election — ratcheting up previous rhetoric baselessly casting doubt on the legitimacy of what polls suggest is a likely defeat.

In response, congressional Republicans have assured there will be a transfer of power, but they have mostly refused to rebuke Trump personally. And increasingly, they’ve suggested this is a “both sides” issue.

In a series of tweets Thursday morning, Republicans from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) to the third-ranking House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), promised a peaceful transfer of power and emphasized its importance in our constitutional republic. But in each of their statements, Trump was basically Voldemort. There was no suggestion that they were responding directly to Trump or that he actually said something wrong. Continue reading.

Here’s what you can do if you’re panicking over Trump trying to steal the election: Constitutional scholars

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If you read The Atlantic report and heard President Donald Trump announced he’ll demand they “get rid of the ballots,” you might be nervous.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s call to defend American democracy likely didn’t help as she sounded the alarm that “it’s happening” and urged Americans to save democracy.

Former Assistant Attorney General for Counterterrorism Joshua Geltzer penned a thread with ideas for what folks can do right now if you’re starting to panic and look for your passports. Continue reading.