Known as the āred mirageā, the scenario could develop if Trump appears to be leading in the presidential race late on election night and declares victory before all the votes are counted.
The red mirage āsounds like a super-villain, and itās just as insidiousā, the former Obama administration housing secretary JulĆan Castro says in a video recorded as a public service announcement to voters this week.
āOn election night, thereās a real possibility that the data will show Republicans leading early, before all the votes are counted. Then they can pretend something sinisterās going on when the counts change in Democratsā favor.ā
In the scenario, Trumpās declaration of victory is echoed on the conservative TV network Fox News and by powerful Republicans across the US. By the time final returns show that in fact Joe Biden has won the presidency, perhaps days later, the true election result has been dragged into a maelstrom of disinformation and chaos.
At which point the various armed biker gangs take to the streets in order to support the attempted coup. Is Trump that crazy ?
Yes - Trump is THAT crazy and probably more so. If he is ahead on election night (likely) he will declare victory and he and his personal attorney Mr Barr will demand that the counting is stopped. They have umpteen lawsuits all ready to go and if they fail at a state or federal circuit level, they'll throw it to Trump judges in Donald's stacked SCOTUS.
Of course if he is behind, then of course he will demand that all the mail-in votes be counted. This election will remind normal Americans of something you'd see in a Banana Republic like Russia, Turkey or Hungary.
That's because Trump is a Banana Republican who models himself after Putin, Erdogan and Orban.
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i like that you assume he will be ahead on election night.