Biden Can Still Stop Trump And Trumpism If He Can Find A Bold Plan And Moral Vision
The US president has been struggling and his divisive rival still has the Republican party in his grip. But there are reasons for hope
The president has also been getting kudos for the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaida successor to Osama bin Laden, in a spectacularly discreet US drone strike that resulted in no other casualties.
-
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley
Biden Team Already Working Toward Transition
Biden will be inaugurated as president on Jan. 20, whether Trump acknowledges his win as legitimate or not. Biden has already begun the process of transitioning to the countrys highest office.
Though Trump has not formally conceded, his administration has granted the new administration access to intelligence briefings, office space, secure computers and other government services, USA TODAY previously reported. Trump tweeted Nov. 23 that the move was made at his recommendation.
The announcement, made by Emily Murphy of the General Services Administration, allocated over $6 million to Bidens transition team for hiring and other transition-related expenses. Since then, Biden has made a number of Cabinet picks, including his chief of staff, Treasury secretary, director of national intelligence, head of the Department of Homeland Security, ambassador to the United Nations, climate change envoy, secretary of State, Defense secretary and Health and Human Services secretary.
People Have Gotten Used To Trump
He doesnt seem as outrageous as he once did. His critics will fret that this amounts to normalizing deviance, but what it really shows is that two years in the nations top job has taken the edge off of Trumps confrontational personality. He no longer sounds like the strident outsider he was on inauguration day. As people become more accustomed to his style and he learns better how to modulate it, the appeal of voting for an alternative will tend to recede.
You May Like: Is Trump A Great President
And Thats Almost Certainly An Undercount
Considering the 2020 election continues to be a major talking point in the Republican primaries, you may be surprised to learn that a sizable chunk of candidates havent publicly stated their opinion on the 2020 election either way. We were unable to find a stated position on the 2020 election for 37 percent of Republican primary candidates and a quarter of GOP nominees . That means that our finding of the number of nominees so far who believe the 2020 election was fraudulent is almost certainly an undercount its likely that a portion of the candidates for whom we cant find a publicly stated opinion are, in fact, election deniers. We know this because when we follow up with these kinds of candidates, they often tell us they are even if they arent serious contenders.
Does This Mean Trump Will Be Criminally Charged
No. Neither Carter nor the committee can charge Trump with federal crimes. That decision would have to be made by the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The department is conducting its own investigation of the Jan. 6 events. Any decision to indict Trump would have enormous political consequences as the former president weighs another run for the White House in 2024. The department did not respond to a request for comment.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Also Check: What Is The Next Trump Rally
Obstructing An Official Proceeding
In a March 2 court filing, the committee detailed Trump’s efforts to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence to either reject slates of electors for Joe Biden, who won the election, or delay a congressional count of those votes. read more
The president’s efforts likely violated a federal law making it illegal to “corruptly” obstruct any official proceeding, or attempt to do so, said Andrew Carter, the California federal judge overseeing the case.
“The pressure on Pence alone is enough” for prosecutors to prove Trump obstructed the proceeding, said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former federal prosecutor.
Trump Puts America First
He stands up for our country’s citizens, he doesn’t want to put illegals first and give them all the benefits the left wants to. He has passed numerous bills that benefit citizens of all backgrounds he also knows what a war would do to our country and chooses to not escalate tensions with Iran. He is also trying to pull offensive troops out of the middle east and bring them back home. He is no doubt a proud country man
Read Also: How Can I Get A Message To President Trump
Trump Falls Short In Popular Electoral Votes Lawsuits Fail
Despite efforts to convince the country and the courts otherwise, Trump did not win reelection.
Trump broke President Barack Obamas popular vote record with over 74 million votes, but still fell short of Biden, who surpassed Trump and all previous presidential candidates by racking up a record-shattering 81 million votes. The Biden-Harris ticket gained roughly 51% of the popular vote to the Trump-Pence tickets 47%, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
But as the 2000 and 2016 elections showed, the popular vote is not the sole determinant of presidential elections the Electoral College makes the final call.
Each state is allowed a number of electors, which is determined by adding its number of senators to its number of House representatives . Nationwide, there are 538 electoral votes to cast.
On Election Day, people vote for their preferred candidate’s electors, who are chosen by political parties or independent candidates before the election. Those individuals, collectively the Electoral College, then cast votes for president and vice president, usually representing the choice their state’s voters made.
Candidates have to win at least half of the country’s electoral votes to be elected president.
None has gotten very far just one case has been won and at least eight are pending.
More:Texas attorney general asks Supreme Court to block Biden victory in 4 states
Trump Pence Rivalry Intensifies As They Consider 2024 Runs
NEW YORK Former Vice President Mike Pence is becoming increasingly brazen in his willingness to counter former President Donald Trump.
The two will hold dueling events in Arizona on Friday as they stump for rival candidates who offer dramatically different visions of the Republican Party in a critical battleground state. Days later, they will once again cross paths as they deliver major speeches on the same day in Washington, D.C.
The encounters mark a more confrontational phase in the fraught relationship between the former running mates and once close confidantes who could soon find themselves competing against one another in the 2024 GOP presidential primary if they both ultimately choose to run.
I think this is a continuation of the larger message that Pence is trying to embody here, which is the Republican Party should look to the future, said Scott Jennings, a longtime party strategist. This is going to be the existential question for the Republican Party: Are we going to listen to a slightly different view than Donald Trumps? Right now, the standard-bearer for this is Mike Pence.
That description marks a striking turnaround for Pence, who spent his four years in the White House as Trumps most loyal defender. But Trump turned on his vice president when Pence refused to go along with his unconstitutional efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, putting Pence in the crosshairs of a violent mob on Jan. 6.
____
Don’t Miss: Why Is Trump Such A Liar
President Trump Has Been Re
Ms. Smallback
I dont know what you have to do right now to get to that place of resolution, but I strongly encourage every patriotic American that understands whats on the line right now to get there. Turn off the media and learn to evaluate current events from a point of research and study, instead of spoon fed propaganda.
President Trump won the 2020 election and will be inaugurated January 20, 2021 just as he should be.
Everything between now and then will be uncomfortable if youre basing your understanding on the lies the media is peddling.
Nothing that has occurred from November 3 presently should have caught the Trump administration, and/or patriots who have been following the intel, and/or authentic Christians by surprise. President Trump has been plain about what he foresaw coming, intel has corroborated it in no less than a dozen ways, and God has been warning His people of the coming days through various mouthpieces.
Yes, there is extensive voter fraud, and yes it is primarily in the swing states. But yes, the Trump administration has already handled it. What we have going on now is the parts playing out.
Sidney Powell, the named future FBI Director, has announced they have evidence such was used. She was on Fox News with Lou Dobbs , and you can watch that interview here.
At the 42 minute mark of that same video, he explains what ghost voters , phantom voters , and purged and tampered votes are .
And one more thing.
How The Model Works
To estimate Trumps chances of being re-elected in 2020, my model takes Trumps current approval ratings and looks for approval ratings that roughly match these numbers within a comparable window of time in the historical data for each of the previous 11 administrations. Ive excluded Kennedy because he was assassinated prior to re-election, and Roosevelt because, as mentioned above, Gallup did not poll for job approval in 1944 due to World War II.
If the model finds a set of poll numbers that roughly match the latest numbers for Trump, it next computes the probability of re-election based on a determination as to whether Trumps latest approval numbers seem more characteristic of a president who later went on to be re-elected or whether they seem more characteristic of one who later went on not to be re-elected.
For instance, say the model is looking to compute the probability of Trump being re-elected as of October 20, 2017, which was 1,110 days prior to Election Day on November 3, 2020. To do this, it will scour the approval ratings for each of the previous 11 administrations and look for any past presidents with similar approval ratings at around 1,110 days prior to Election Day.
Since the model looks to calculate the probability that Trump will be re-elected given a particular range of job approval numbers, the final calculation is based on four pieces of information:
Read Also: What Is President Trump Doing
Half Of Republican Nominees Have At Least Flirted With Denying The Election
As mentioned above, out of 340 Republican nominees for Senate, House, governor, attorney general and secretary of state so far, 120 are full-blown election deniers .2 This includes people like Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who said in a campaign ad that the fake news, big tech and blue-state liberals stole the election from President Trump, and Indiana Rep. Greg Pence, who voted not to certify Pennsylvanias electoral votes and hasnt spoken out on the issue since. It also includes at least four people who attended the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol: Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, Ohio 9th Congressional District nominee J.R. Majewski, Oregon senatorial nominee Jo Rae Perkins and North Carolina 1st Congressional District nominee Sandy Smith.
Does All This Mean Trump Will Be Criminally Charged
No. Neither Carter nor the committee can charge Trump with federal crimes. That decision must be made by the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The department is conducting its own sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 events, but has not signaled whether it intends to indict Trump, a decision that could have enormous political consequences as Trump weighs another run for the presidency in 2024. The department did not respond to a request for comment.
Also Check: How Do I Communicate With President Trump
Yes Of Course Donald Trump Can Win In 2024
When I meet people and they find out I am a political reporter, they inevitably and immediately ask some version of this question: Is he going to run again? And can he win?
The he there just in case youve spent the last six years on another planet is Donald Trump.
And the answers to those questions are probably yes and definitely. As in, yes, Trump is probably going to run for president again in 2024. And, yes, he would have a very real chance of winning.
Lets take the second half of that question first. A new Wall Street Journal poll shows Trump and President Joe Biden each at 45% among registered voters in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, results that are largely unchanged since the last time WSJ asked the question in November.
The simple fact is that if the 2020 presidential race was re-run today, it would effectively be a pure toss up.
Which, if you think about it, makes sense. While Biden took more than 300 electoral votes, his margins in a series of swing states like Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were decidedly narrow. And had those states gone for Trump, he would have almost certainly been reelected.
Now, that is putting the cart before the horse. So, lets return to the first question: Will Trump run?
If you believe him, then yes.
But, its true.
Wisconsin: Jay Schroeder And Amy Loudenbeck
Unlike in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, in Wisconsin the secretary of state does not oversee elections. That responsibility belongs to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the bipartisan state agency created by Republicans.
Schroeder and Loudenbeck, however, have both called for the dismantling of the commission.
Both candidates have instead called for the secretary of states office to oversee and administer elections. In Wisconsin, that office has not had responsibility for elections since 1974. Changing that would require approval by the Republican-controlled Legislature and the governor. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has said he would not approve such changes, but he is up for re-election this fall, and all of his Republican opponents have vowed to abolish the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Other state Republicans have also aggressively criticized the agency following Bidens 2020 win in the state.
While Trump has not made an endorsement in the states Republican primary, hes been heavily involved in persuading other Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin to continue investigating the results of the 2020 election.
In an interview with NBC News, Schroeder, who was the Republican nominee for secretary of state in 2018, wouldnt acknowledge whether Biden won the state in 2020. Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin by 20,600 votes.
I wouldnt have signed off on the results, he said.
There would have to be proof, he said.
Also Check: How To Send A Message To President Trump
Bidenworld Wants To Make The Midterms More About Trump And Hopes Elon Musk Helps
Still, some allies and Democrats privately worry that Biden may not be able to handle the rigors of another campaign.
A bone he broke in his foot while playing with his dog in late November 2020 still occasionally bothers Biden, resulting in a slower and shorter gait. And the White House has largely abandoned using the Oval Office for press events in part because it cant be permanently equipped with a teleprompter Biden aides prefer the fake White House stage built in the Old Executive Office Building next door for events, sacrificing some of the power of the historic backdrop in favor of an otherwise sterile room that was outfitted with an easily read teleprompter screen.
And if Biden were to run again in 2024, it almost certainly would be a more rigorous campaign than the one he previously mounted. The outbreak of Covid kept Biden in his Delaware home for much of the 2020 general election campaign, sparing him the wear and tear of relentless travel.
As for Trump, the issues are not related to physical health so much as psychological conditioning. He wants to run, those who know him say, but wants to be sure he will win.
I always said that he would run if Biden is under 44 or 43 but if Biden is at 46, 47, he will pass, said Bryan Lanza, a GOP strategist and former Trump campaign official. Right now he is at 41 so I have to say yes right now there has to be a dramatic turning out in Biden numbers for him to pass.
- Filed under:
Other Members Who Have Faced Questions About Jan 6
In addition to the members who have been implicated or directly named as participants Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, several other incumbent members of Congress have received formal requests for information from the Jan. 6 committee based on evidence and testimony it has received.
Thanks to Lillian Barkley for copy editing this article.
You May Like: How Many Bankruptcies Has Donald Trump Had
How President Trump Can Still Win The 2020 Election
December 9, 2020 The following is written by Hon. Robert Marshall, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Can President Trump still win re-election?
Yes! Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz explained that President Trump has a legal, though narrow, constitutional path to re-election. Fareed Zakaria of CNN acknowledged this. Senator Lindsay Graham noted, Everything should be on the table, in light of affidavits filed under penalty of years of jail time for perjury.
Can state legislatures choose presidential Electors?
The federal Constitution places the obligation for choosing presidential Electors on state legislatures: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress .
State legislatures do not need permission of Governors to call a special session to select presidential Electors.
What does the Supreme Court say?
A nearly 130-year-old Supreme Court decision, held that, This power is conferred upon the legislatures of the states by the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be taken from them or modified by their state constitutions Whatever provisions may be made by statute, or by the state constitution, to choose electors by the people, there is no doubt of the right of the legislature to resume the power at any time, for it can neither be taken away nor abdicated.
Suggested letter
