Biden 'not confident' of peaceful transition if Trump loses

girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 670 points –
Biden 'not confident' of peaceful transition if Trump loses
bbc.com

US President Joe Biden has said he is not confident there will be a peaceful transition of power if Donald Trump loses the presidential election in November.

"[Trump] means what he says, we don’t take him seriously. He means it, all this stuff about ‘if we lose it will be a bloodbath’.”

Mr Trump’s comment that it would “be a bloodbath for the country” if he loses the election, made as he was talking about the auto industry in March, triggered a wave of criticism.

The Trump campaign, however, said the comment was specifically about the auto industry and had been deliberately taken out of context. It sent a fundraising email which said Trump’s political opponents and others had been "viciously" misquoting him.

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But there's been so many.

"Dictator on day one"

"You won't have to vote anymore"

Those are just the two off the top of my head as I'm heading back into work on my lunch break.

Everything bad Trump ever says is either "a joke" or "out of context."

Weird how often he says things that everyone things he means and then he doesn't mean them. I sure wouldn't vote for a guy like that. He's weird.

What's even in context for him? He jumps around so much there is no context.

This is his one strength. He can dog whistle as much as he wants because he always carefully chooses his words to add some sort of plausible deniability or innocent interpretation. So his base hears what he can't fully say out loud yet and the media has to carefully tiptoe around interpreting it or lose credibility to his base

lol classic biden

come on joe, it's been established that you can "say it like it is":

trump is going to incite riots and violent insurrection, he's going to demand the military stage a coup, he's going to call for civil war. trump is 100% going to attempt 1/6 ver 2.0 and there isn't a human being over 5 on the planet who doesn't know that to be the case

The one thing I am fairly certain about though is that, assuming riots like that are happening in D.C., Biden will not hesitate to send out forces to stop it. Trump could have but didn't want to.

There might be a few more Ashley Babbits this time.

ah gotta love the old "just try breaking into my house and i'll introduce you to my shotguns!!!" crowd lamenting over the cold blooded "murder" of someone breaking into not-her-property

and yea. if these maga chucklefucks think DC is going to be the same soft cushy environment it was in 2021, then they're even dumber than i thought. which is pretty fucking dumb. in addition to the dozens of snipers (that are visible), i'd be surprised if there's a square inch of space in the whole motherfucker that isn't covered by at least 4 cameras.

ah gotta love the old “just try breaking into my house and i’ll introduce you to my shotguns!!!” crowd lamenting over the cold blooded “murder” of someone breaking into not-her-property

Well said! It's almost as if they lack in ye olde critical thinking and self reflection departments.

My dad tried to talk about how "they just killed her" a while back...

I was like: they gave her a lawful order. She was literally breaking into one of the most secure facilities in the world. She saw the trained men with the loaded firearms pointed at her and proceeded to move through a broken down door..

And then don't forget that oath... From all threats foreign and domestic.. she was a domestic threat. And the agent removed that threat.

Shut him right up.

These idiots want to fafo? I hope dark Brandon is waiting for them.

And she had military training and knew exactly what orders that guy had, so she knew it was going to happen, she was just betting that they wouldn't dare or that their group of insurrectionists would overpower them. But she failed on every count and paid with her life.

It's not just a lawful order though. Let me handcuff you is also a lawful order. They warned her, and everyone else at that door, that it was off limits and they would shoot.

The military is going to laugh at him. And then line up to protect the capitol from him. Some idiots might try to do something but the military as a whole is not going to obey Trump unless he gets elected.

I think the chaos will be happening at State capitols this time. National Guard (generally, with some exceptions) report to each state's Governor. Many Republican Governors will be all to happy to start shit up and look the other way just as Trump did on 1/6.

Fun fact, if you don't deploy your national guard then the President can do it for you, or even deploy national forces. This is what Trump was threatening to do with CHAZ in Seattle.

My dad is in his 70's and doesn't believe the gravy seals will try anything again. He thinks they learned their lesson the first time. I wish i was that confident/delusional.

This is the entire quote:

"No, we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected. Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that's going to be the least of it, it's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars, they're building massive factories."

The context is talking about Chinese cars, but the bit where he says "it's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it." really looks to me like he's saying there will be a bloodbath in general if he doesn't get elected, the one in the car industry being small compared to it.

I don't know why I'm spending time and energy examining the idiotic ramblings of the orange gibbon.

I understand he is talking about cars... but that's not how anyone has taken it...

As a left centrist in a deep deep red state. I've got yet another firearm on order currently.

My politics boil down to

I want my state sponsored medically insured gay married neighbors and their adopted freely educated children to be able to protect their legally grown pot plants with fully automatic ak47s.

Lol

Hilariously those beliefs are sins in the face of my neighbor's... Which blows my mind.

Conservativism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: there is a group that the law should protect but not bind, and a group that the law should bind but not protect.

And the thing is, while there are some people who just go along with this for the benefit of their own grift, the vast majority of these people actually believe that an order like this is absolutely necessary, and if we don’t have it civilization itself will collapse. In their view there must be a strict hierarchy and everyone must ‘know their place’ in it, or we are all doomed.

Because of this, they spend their time primarily in two pursuits:

  1. Trying to force everyone to live this way, because it is the One Right Way To Live
  2. Proving to themselves and others that they deserve to be in the In Group and at a certain level in that hierarchy, usually by trying to assign people to the Out Group and then put them in a lower position.

You’re just someone they’re trying to stuff in the Out Group, is all.

It’s also why they don’t like the idea of minorities in power; one, in their eyes minorities belong in the lower tiers of the Out Group and therefore their presence will destroy the fabric of society, and two, they think that if minorities are let into the In Group, then they will be forced into the Out Group.

The context is great! Its exactly like his other interjections - usually uncorrelated and exactly what's really go in his mind

His bigot blurts are about the only truth he speaks

Hey, leave the orange gibbons alone -- they're considerably smarter than the orange wannabe Hitler.

That's the problem isn't it? He's not mentally there enough to realize a presidential candidate can't talk about a bloodbath without it being taken that way. I learned that you have to think about how your message is received in grade school. And that was just to avoid detention.

I think Biden, being freed up and all, should spend some time fortifying the election results. I know the election is inherently flawed but there should be systems in place to stop another Jan 6th. Do some maintenance. Get commitments from the states themselves. Jus saying.

Ditch the electoral college, certify the election with a popular vote, adopt ranked choice.

But then the 1% would become the 10% and I'm sorry but that just won't do, it's a very nuanced system that boils down to Rich good Poor bad. /s

He can't just change the Constitution.

That's absolutely true. However with the SCOTUS rulings as of late regarding the Executive branch, it could be fun to try.

If we ever get a trifecta again we need to kill the filibuster and then pass a law to expand Congress so the EC is effectively locked to the national result. As a bonus it seriously hurts lobbyists and gives us better representation.

what happens when we lose the trifecta?

Historically we've never gone backwards in the number of representatives. It would be very hard for a party with a majority in The House of Representatives to make that case.

I think it would be a worthwhile exercise to draft up some amendments to fix the SCOTUS and lopsided representation problems.

It won't pass. 0% chance. But , it would serve as a blueprint of what could be if voters gave them a super majority. And a foundation for a time in the distant future if both parties could actually govern in good faith again.

And it would signal to voters that the Dems are looking to improve our government, not just cling to the status quo like many voters (here, at least) seem to think.

Ranked choice is just another way for people to game the system. I wish people understood this.

If we can only afford one candidate, they can afford 30. Ranked choice is like the very last possible thing that should be implemented in a supposed democracy. You don’t believe me, the Conservative party of Canada has ranked primaries. You have 4 crazy people and 1 moderate. Who gets more votes? The crazy people. You’re literally sealing your fate if you implement ranked voting in a mass-lobbying environment like the USA.

Nope, it works great here in Australia.

FPTP is the worst system, and couple that with a system like the electoral collage and you have a system designed to make as few voices heard as possible.

Is lobbying legal in Australia? Considering the sway the oil and gas lobby has in AU, i don’t know if your point stands. I just can’t see it helping a shitstorm like USA, when I can see it impacting Canada negatively

The goal posts, you move them sir.

That was always my point, idk what youre saying

That you're moving the goal posts?

That ranked choice voting should only be implemented when the electoral system isn’t a broken mess?

Your problem is not with Ranked Choice voting. Your issue is with the fact that you're jaded with the political system that you're in.

Lmfao okay, well jump from crazed whataboutism to just plain insults, but I’m not wrong in my interpretation. If Citizens United wasnt around, if SCOTUS was different, if so many other things. But implementing RC without them is a death sentence

You brought up whataboutism.

How is your jaded view an insult?

You have strong opinions about a country's politics that you don't live in.

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Ranked choice is just another way for people to game the system. I wish people understood this.

Vote for the candidate you want, and then put the moderate as your second choice, shuffle them all together and oh look the moderate got the nom, but has to campaign in such a way as to please the democratic plurality of a multi party system.

How many "crazy people" have been put forth as the Canadian Conservative Party candidate? As the general elections went in 2021, one of the most contentious in recent history, it looked like there was a plurality there. The outcome, and current scandals not withstanding within the Canadian governemnt, there aren't assassination attempts creating articles from reputable sources giving serious credence to civil war.

https://theconversation.com/one-inch-from-a-potential-civil-war-near-miss-in-trump-shooting-is-also-a-close-call-for-american-democracy-234628.

Seems like a two party system might create some tribalism there, let's look back at the Canadian Parliament, with a lot of different parties in the parliament compromising and doing politics. Looks like a lot of pluralism there.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes

Now let's take a look at what the US Congress has been up to recently

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes

Weird, outside of a universal vote to go on vacation, I don't really see a plurality there. Mostly along a two party line.

I wonder how we got there? I bet someone smarter than I has thought of this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger%27s_law

Oh they did.

Moving back to the threat of political violence, which is a much larger conversation than ranked choice voting. Could a two party system contribute to that? Could other countries with a binary politcal system face the same issues?

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/rising-tide-political-violence

Huh could the very nature of a two party system, encourage political tribalism and disincentivize political collobaration?

https://voices.uchicago.edu/dangerousthoughts/2016/05/14/political-tribalism-and-identity-politics/

https://www.power3point0.org/2019/01/15/conformation-bias-political-tribalism-as-a-driver-of-disinformation/

What does the future of the US want?

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/

Huh, thank goodness we don't have to deal with those pesky crazies in the Canadian Conservative Party ranked primaries.

Ranked choice is just another way for people to game the system. I wish people understood this.

I don’t see why you skip my entire point of it just increasing the number of shitty candidates. You say the “moderate” gets chosen, but what’s the mean when 4/5s of the pool is poison?

The fact you just straight to Trump-assassination whataboutism is fucked, and this whole mathematical law regarding duopoly again flies past my point. Providing more candidates that are shit only ratchets the equation towards shit. That’s not to say having more than two parties is bad… I’m saying the political foundation in America is so bad that implementing ranked choice before destroying the influence of capital only increases the chance of capital winning.

Do you know how Ranked Choice works? I explained it in a sentence. You keep agreeing with my points. The Moderate wins and has to take the 4/5ths into consideration. What you're describing with your pool of poison is a problem with the conservative party and not with ranked choice voting. You can happily look at the voting turn out in Australia, and Australian exit polls to directly refute your point of poison.

Whatboutism? You didn't even read my post. I'm saying that a First Past the Post voting leads to tribalism that can lead to political extremism and violence. Which is clearly illustrated in every research paper, article, and government report I shared with you.

You've responded with an opinion, and your opinion of one minor part of a much larger Canadian political system. Again.

More choice breeds better results for a larger portion of the population. The fact that our extremism here in America cannot even take serious root in Canada is a great point to the benefits of a pluralistic government. But sure. Whataboutism .Yeah.

It’s “whataboutism” because using a closed Republican-on-Republican violence is kind of ridiculous when you say my point about “poisoned pools” is only a problem within the Conservative party.

I’m saying ranked voting only helps when it’s backed by a legitimate and healthy political environment. One that America and Canada do not have. Man we’re just talking past eachother, cause some ignorant Aussie (you) thinks he understands American politics. Brother, I understand math, but these people can legally throw money at the literal Supreme Court and it’s completely legal. That’s not a healthy environment. Citizens United would mean every pool in the USA would be full of poison.

The Balkanization of the Republican Party is driven by political tribalism. I don't think you have a very strong grasp on political theory or how absolutely fucked we are down here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkanization

I'm not the person who said

Nope, it works great here in Australia.

That was @BigBoyBarry

Look at my comment history, I was born in America and have lived here all my life. I've voted in every primary I qualify to vote in and every presidential election since I turned 18.

You might want to read the usernames of the people you're replying to.

If your point now is that ranked choice voting would increase voting turnout, thus reducing the chance of Balkanization — I understand I guess. But RC isn’t going to fix the fact only 1 candidate is going to win, and doesn’t guarantee some better percentage breakdown in representation. Like you should maybe clarifying why the Republicans are balkanizing specifically, because even Musk would argue it’s a problem of Democrats. I just dont really understand what youre getting at

Um, where do you know in Western Politics that there's more than one winner in an election?

But the opposite if FPTP is using a representative set. Like if youre american you must see that “constantly pushing for centrism” only pushes you rightward when Republicans push so hard for their policies

That's the whole point of people wanting ranked choice, then they can make their voice heard by voting for more progressive candidates while not having to worry that they're voting for someone who can't win and are therefore technically supporting the party they don't want to win. The more votes third party candidates get, the more seriously they get taken even if they don't win. You can't do that with a two party system.

All the people who you're worried about voting for the "crazies" are already voting for the crazies, you're not going to get current moderates or progressives all of a sudden voting for the crazies because there are more options of crazy so I'm not sure what you're worried about.

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Like if youre american you must see that “constantly pushing for centrism” only pushes you rightward when Republicans push so hard for their policies

Your initial misunderstanding is that you're only thinking within the acceptable terms. Two things I think you might want to consider.

First you've alluded to it multiple times which is the Overton Window. Which is shifting, but not only to the right in American politics. If you read the links I posted earlier, political violence in America is becoming more acceptable to the left as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

The other is that there is such a thing as manufactured consent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent

You've also referenced that there's lobbying and wealthy interest that gain undue power in a political system through what amounts to corruption but is called lobbying and regulatory capture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

The best bet to defeat all of these. Believe it or not is ranked choice voting. Be prepared though, what follows is a special interest fire hose.

A primer on what it could start as in the US https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1214199019/ranked-choice-voting-explainer

How it can make lasting change https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/politics/ranked-choice-voting-ctzn/index.html

How it leads to more moderate candidates https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-08-02/ranked-choice-voting-can-result-in-more-moderate-candidates

And finally if you have the bandwidth for it a very wonky deep dive into plurality politics and their historical outcomes, and how the wealthy often fight them. https://brill.com/view/journals/copr/14/4/article-p416_416.xml

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This relies on the States acting in the best interest of the country as a whole, which as we have seen, has not been the case for many southern states

Jan 6th only happened because Trump let it happen.

If Trump wins, Biden will transfer power. Of that, I have 100% confidence.

If Trump loses, he has no authority to command government personnel, so him riling up people to storm the capitol this time will almost certainly be met with resistance.

I'm actually much more confident that nothing as bad as J6 will happen again, at least not this election cycle. I do think he needs to spend some time putting safeguards into place to prevent the abuse of the clear weakspots in our election system, namely the certification process itself being flawed if controlled by partisan sycophants.

Not as long as there are red states. Ensuring electors may be a major fuck you to the whole process

I have faith that when the lawsuits come down hard on those guys, they'll drop their tough guy act and certify.

I think Biden, being freed up and all, should spend some time fortifying the election results.

100% agreed.

I know the election is inherently flawed

Aside from Trump and his ilk getting his ilk installed as election workers who have vowed to disrupt the election any way they can, how exactly is it "inherently" flawed? Pretty sure this way of thinking is why these people feel emboldened to question the elections. There was no inherent flaw in 2020. And every single court ruled as such.

first past the post is kinda a shitty system, it results in a two party system, which isn't good. but to start fixing that you'd need to redo all of politics and that's never going to happen.

Sorry, I meant the mechanics of the election isn't inherently flawed (except in GA now where counties can just decide not to certify at will). I would agree that voting should be changed, nationwide, to ranked choice.

They may be talking about the fact that you can win the presidency with a minority of votes. They're right about that, but the actual vote counting is pretty secure, as the courts have decided.

Yeah, that makes sense. Would 100% agree then.

He's probably nervous regarding GOP fearmongering.

Any attempts by him to shore up security around the election will be labeled by Republicans as tampering and he probably doesn't want to be responsible for anything to come out of that especially if he's going into retirement after this term.

Obviously they're going to fearmonger regarding election results anyways despite being the ones who are more than likely going to attempt to alter the results but it'd still be adding fuel to the fire that he'll have to deal with. Don't really need to have the entire discussion on Republicans, their lack of logic and Democrats sometimes not quite being up to the task of dealing with the dumb fuckery put forth by them.

He'll have my utmost respect if he goes above and beyond to do this anyways though.

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Well - why would he be? Trump didn't accept it last time, and this is well and truly the end of the road for him if he doesn't win. He's 77 as it is, but zero point zero zero zero zero percent chance he gets this close again.

And the cost of not winning is monumental. It's victory or destruction for the vulgar talking yam. If he's no longer of any use to Russia, imagine what information might come out about him, especially if they themselves descend into instability.

Trump never accepts any defeat, ever. It's always a disgrace, the worst, most nasty this and that that's so unfair to him. Of course he's not going to accept a defeat. What the adults do about it is the important variable.

Given his legal trouble, he very truly could either be president or imprisoned. he probably has less money than he wants us to believe, fleeing to Russia or Venezuela etc isn't really an option. His money will just be seized by the state and he will be disposed of as an impotent, toothless old hippo, only capable of making noise, with no more use to offer anyone.

Yeah it's pretty obvious to everyone that it's all or bust for trump. He's desperate. Nothing to lose.

They're already strategising how to steal the election. They're already on record saying they know exactly who to call when it's time to validate the results from each state.

If he’s no longer of any use to Russia, imagine what information might come out about him,

Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself.

Then fucking DO something about it. Publicly get the national guard to guard Washington or whatever. Talking about it just encourages them.

I think this is probably him starting to connect those dots for the public. His immediate publicity regarding SCOTUS reform following dropping out was the first hint. He understands what they’re doing.

I understand what you’re saying but history makes me hold back on hope. They often fall short of any true consequential action.

If Biden called for the guard to protect DC already then he’d be giving ammo to the Republicans who are literally campaigning on the idea that the Democrats intend to steal the election. Why would Joe do exactly what they want? He’s tell you, right now, that he knows Trump intends to be violent. He simply needs to keep saying this until Harris is called the winner. Then he can bring in the biggest fucking tanks they’ll let him drive on the asphalt.

“No time for the old in-out, love, I've just come to read the meter.”

I predict riots regardless of who wins.

The only way to avoid it is if either side wins with a landslide, showing that the majority of the country is for the elected winner.

I doubt it. trump appears to have lost a lot of persuasive power.

If Harris wins, I'm pretty sure all the conservatives are going to slink back under rocks for the next few years.

If Harris wins, a lot of places where Trump "should have" won are going to falsely claim fraud and refuse to certify their votes, leading to another Jan 6.

The damage Trump and his ilk have done to this country by undermining the public trust in some of the best run elections in the world is incalculable. It will be decades if ever before that damage is undone.

Yep. Guaranteed they've already figured out the specific people they need to put pressure on when the time comes.

Here in Georgia, I've got a front-row seat:

(Reminder: Georgia is the state that not only went blue in 2020, but also saved the Democratic majority in the Senate.)

What. The. Fuck.

So they just don't certify results they don't like.

The three board members who voted for it – Dr Janice Johnson, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King – were praised by name three days ago by Donald Trump at an Atlanta campaign rally.

This smells like corruption.

This smells like corruption.

"The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!"

::: spoiler Tap for spoiler In other words, yes, the corruption smells like itself. :::

That isn't even the only ratfucking tactic in play, BTW. They've also streamlined the process for challenging voter eligibility, such that even out-of-state right-wing traitors can try to disenfranchise an unlimited number of GA voters (especially "urban" ones). And that's on top of the usual shortening early voting, limiting polling places, etc.

Frankly, at this point I think it's even odds Georgia's popular vote doesn't get counted, unless non-traitors wake up to the danger and start a massive poll-watching (etc.) effort.

I would respectfully disagree with that assessment.

Even if 2024 is a huge enough electoral wipe out that Trump and his MAGA base are embarrassed to follow through on the violence they’ve been promising for years. Yes, Republicans might slink away and hide.

But they will rebrand and be back within a few months. We’ve seen this before at the start of the Obama Presidency’, when the fall out from the G.W. Presidency showed that Republicans had shit the bed sooo hard, even hard core Republicans that I knew denied they ever supported W. (Even though a few had fucking pictures of the asshat on their office walls for years.)

But the useful idiots that make up the core of the Republican base were back in a few months as “Tea Party” Republicans. Fully funded and promoted Koch and other billionaires. All those hard core W. supporters suddenly got angry and jumped on that band wagon.

Make no mistake they will be back, even in the best case scenario. (Which I very much doubt will happen.)

Anything less than a 60/40 win (either way) and it's gonna get crazy.

Translation: There will be enough military force there to snuff out any bullshit Dementia Don the weird racist rapist with 34 felonies brings.

Of course he's gonna try it again, you took it far too lightly last time. Maybe Kamala will enforce the law

She is a former prosecutor and former AG. If anyone would, it's her.

It's also a bit of a delicate matter though. No matter what the government attacking a group of people is a bad look.

Typically, the crowds don't fight back, or half the police force switches sides, or who knows what may happen.

Rolling over and capitulating to murderous treason is a bad look too.

There's a chance he drops the hammer if they try to storm the capitol again. He has the legal power to deploy the federal military to protect D.C.

Trump said he doesn't need the votes which is far scarier. They need to fear the consequences of trying to steal democracy from us.

It sent a fundraising email

Trump's response to everything, good, bad, indifferent, or wildly spun

Cool. Put machine gun nests in the capital this time.

People fear that the person who incited a mass riot the last time they lost an election will incite a mass riot if he loses this election?

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Biden can literally guarantee the peaceful transition of power to Harris. Whatever he chooses to do is an official act, right? So do whatever it takes to put down any bullshit, Joe.

He's saying there's a chance a third party tries to make it violent.

What third party are you fucking talking about? Republicans are the only ones making overt threat of violence.

Well if Harris wins it's her and Biden in the official transfer of power. Anyone else is a third party to that.

How on earth can Biden guarantee that Trump supporters won't get violent? The one best suited to do that is Trump, and we know from past experience that he is going to do the exact opposite.

I never once said he could guarantee they won’t get violent. Does anyone read on this instance?

Does anyone read on this instance?

Maybe read what Biden said? And then you can be among those who read on this instance.

I am among them. It’s okay, I understand that comprehension is hard.

I noticed how you didn't actually address the fact you didn't read what he said. It's okay, I understand that as hard as comprehension is, admitting you are wrong makes that look like a walk in the park.

I think this is ultimately the difference between now and 2020. The fox isn't guarding the hen house.

Unfortunately it's not that simple considering a lot of the fuckery is going on at state level, but hopefully

US is a broken system, if it isn't this time it's next.

GOP wants 'make america great again', but there was no space free for the 2nd line 'for us rich a$$holes'

Can't it be fixed?

There is no coming back from one part of a duopoly embracing fascism. The path either leads to a complete electoral wipeout, a fascist coup, or a civil war. Or all three.

Might want the national guard on standby this time then. Dont wait for the legislators to waffle it

Gee, you think the guy who was the first president not to support a peaceful transfer of power, who tried to subvert the government by an organized mob, and who hasn't expressed any wrongdoing at all might not be nice about it this time?

My only quibble is that the transfer of power itself will be fine, because it would be between Biden and Harris. Trump wouldn't have any official power, and anything he and his supporters do couldn't be interpreted as official acts.

Well, he's got the most powerful "security" apparatus in the world under his command. The charge of the yokels on mobility scooters shouldn't be a problem to deal with.

Granted, I’m not president of anything at all, but I’m very confident that there will NOT be a peaceful transition if Trump loses.

Do you anticipate any violence if he wins?

If he wins, it's open season on any and all political opponents, and any critics, really. So yes.

If he loses, it'll be "rigged," and they'll try another 1/6. My prediction is they'll try State Capitols this time around...

So, looks like violence is back on the menu, boys.

Yes, are you familiar with the fascist playbook? It’s not the first, second, or even third time this has happened in history and you can bet the people in charge know their history. First it’s the disabled, mentally ill, and queer people. Then the out crowd just keeps expanding until the whole thing collapses but a lot of people die along the way.

I am unapologetically anti-authoritarian in every way. I fear Democrats almost as much as I fear Republicans. Yes I know the playbook. Everybody has somebody they want to disenfranchise.

Another amnesia issue I’m having: can you remind me which “vermin” the Democratic nominee has vowed to “exterminate”? And also I forgot about the times she called for the use of violence. Can you jog my memory on that as well?

For sure both sides are exactly the same. I suffer from amnesia can you help me by reminding me of all those Democrat-run violent insurrections?

A part if me wants to see the chaos that ensues after he's defeated. I just hope nobody dies

It’s better in fact because there won’t be much of a transition. All you’re doing is giving the vice president your presidency dumbass. These old people, bro.

If the domestic terrorists attack again just put them in the ground this time. Easy peasy.

I see a lot of handwringing about this, like "Oh, even if Harris wins they'll just attempt a coup again!"and it's like OK, and? Your solution to them stealing an election is to let them win it legitimately instead?

Yeah, voting isn't a magic pill that solves everything. You still gotta wake up the next day and do the work.

"Oh, even if Harris wins they’ll just attempt a coup again!"and it’s like OK, and? Your solution to them stealing an election is to let them win it legitimately instead?

My solution would have been to lock them up for trying to steal the last one.

Isn't it kind of his job to make sure there is?

No. The danger here is GOP-controlled states refusing to certify a Trump loss, and the Federal government/Biden doesn't have any power over that.

refusing to certify is one thing, and isn't necessarily violent.

if the transition of power is not peaceful, that's an entirely different manner, and yes Biden has the power to deal with that.

Corrupt election boards trying to throw the election to a corrupt House or corrupt SCOTUS is what causes violence.

Refusing to certify may send it to the house, where each state gets one vote. It would be a coup

Of course he has the power to deal with it.

But I think any sane person would hope that he isn't put in the position to need to deal with it.

Yes, but there’s only so much he can do. Of course there are things he can do to prepare for violence, both directly and in coordination with state governors. That said, if people want to protest, they’re going to protest. The way things are, there’s a fine line between maintaining the peace and oppression. Republicans have, for years, been laying the groundwork for the oppression argument. It’s easy to say, “who cares” to that, but if enough people think they’re being oppressed by the government, things will get more violent.

Not his job to control an unabashed pathological liar from lying… again. And not even convincingly!

Yeah.

So he just lets congress get overrun again by a violent insurrection while taking the votes. Cuz that’s not his job… no sir-e.

That’s not what I said… so… no.

I can’t control what you do just like can’t control me. It’s on Donny to control himself and not insight another potential coup. No one can force the little cry baby to act like an adult. He has to do that himself.

All Biden can do is try to mitigate the consequences of another 80 year olds tantrum

All Biden can do is try to mitigate the consequences of another 80 year olds tantrum

ultimately, when those tantrums threaten the constitutionally recognized government, then it's Biden's job to, you know. Defend that government. as mandated by that constitution and as he swore to do.

yes. it's a very ugly place we're coming to.

that's why he's paid the middle-bucks.

You can’t control anyone shy of putting them in prison which obviously isn’t happening. He’ll do what he can, but come on man, look what happened last time. They built gallows lol. It’s like trying to hold water, it’s uncontrollable nonsensical chaos from a whiny trust fund kid with a cult following.

He’s gunna do what he does and Biden will do his best to mitigate the tantrum.

In almost 1/4 of a century only 1 republican has won the popular vote and not even in both terms and only 1 guy refuses to admit it even after 8 years of being proven wrong.