Trump Mulls Declaring a National Emergency to Rig Elections, Says ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’

The desperation of Donald Trump and his Republican confederates continues to multiply like measles in MAGAville. With the midterm elections drawing nearer, Trump and the cult that worships him recognize the abysmal prospects of their electoral future.

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Donald Trump, Constitution

Through it all, Trump manages to maintain an impressive degree of delusion. Despite every poll showing his approval ratings at record lows, he insists that he is enjoying historic levels of popularity. Every day he posts multiple comments on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, saying that he’s never been more beloved.

SEE THIS: Delusional Trump: ‘My REAL Polling Numbers Are the Best They Have Ever Been’ – OK Grandpa

Trump’s departure from reality is more than just an old man dwelling in a senile stupor. He still occupies the White House, with all of the powers that go along with it. And his exercise of those powers has never been marked by intelligence, reason, or respect for the law, even when his mental faculties were marginally functional.

On Tuesday morning Trump did another phone-in interview with a shamelessly sycophantic Trump-fluffer and conspiracy crackpot, Wayne Allen Root, who hosts a program on a MAGA media website. Root raised the topic of the imminent elections and sought Trump’s opinion on a dangerously unlawful and anti-American proposal.

Root: Let me put an idea in your head OK. Because it’s so hard to get the Senate to do anything now, they’re at recess, they don’t get anything done. If they never get the Save America Act done, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections. And the Supreme Court ruled in 1983, under Reagan…that if you declare a national security emergency as the president of the United States, they can’t challenge it. It can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. So if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship and a limit to mail-in ballots.
Trump: Let me just say stranger things have happened. I’ll leave it at that.

Root’s advocacy for Trump declaring a “national security emergency for elections” is preposterous. No such authority exists. Particularly by way of Root’s absolutely asinine suggestion that the declaration would be justified if the Senate failed to pass Trump’s “Save America Act” (aka Voter Suppression Act). The inability of a partisan Congress to pass a bill favored by an aspiring totalitarian president is not a national emergency.

To the contrary, the Constitution gives the states sole authority over administering elections. And the “National Emergencies Act” does not supersede the Constitution or suspend of any of its provisions during a declared emergency. So even if an emergency were declared, it wouldn’t give Trump the right to impose voting regulations (i.e. photo ID, proof of citizenship, limit mail-in ballots) on the states. More detail here.

Furthermore, Congress does have the power to terminate a national emergency by passing a joint resolution to do so. Although that resolution would require the president’s signature. If the president vetoes the resolution, Congress can override it with a two-thirds supermajority in both houses. That’s a high bar, but not impossible when considering the stakes. After all, Trump has majorities in both houses of Congress now, but still can’t get his Voter Suppression law passed.

Failing that, the emergency declaration can also be terminated by state governments, businesses, or affected individuals who can sue in federal court if they believe the declaration exceeds statutory or constitutional limits. And contrary to Root’s claim, the Supreme Court can strike down actions tied to an alleged emergency if the president oversteps their authority.

While the prospects of a national emergency declaration by Trump to take over elections should not be dismissed, neither should they feed irrational anxieties and fear. There are still guardrails available in the legislative and judicial branches of government that would defeat Trump’s tyrannical aspirations.

It is worrisome enough that Trump even entertains this idea with flippant comments that “stranger things have happened.” And because Trump and his MAGA-tist cult are open to such breaches of the Constitution, the rest of us must remain vigilant and committed to preserving American democracy and the principles that sustain it.

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