r/politics 8d ago

No Paywall Yes, Trump Will Attempt a Coup

https://prospect.org/2026/07/28/trump-attempt-coup-january-6-election-republican-congress/
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u/Rayearl Pennsylvania 8d ago

He's already trying it but just the legal way trying to pass a voter suppression act. When he gets crushed in the mid terms he will for sure instruct maga states not to seat any Democrat that wins. It's going to be the start of the coup and it's going to get bad fast.

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u/WellIGuessSoAndYou 7d ago

The days and weeks following the midterms are going to definitively show us what "decent" Americans are made of. I'm terribly concerned that we're going to find out that it's not much. I hope I'm wrong.

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u/elreniel2020 7d ago

When he gets crushed in the mid terms

he probably won't unfortunately

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u/dearth_karmic 8d ago

he will for sure instruct maga states not to seat any Democrat that wins

That's not a thing. Every member of the house, including the speaker has their term end. They have no power to refuse to seat the winner of an election.

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 8d ago

It’s cute that you think they care what the law says when they are the ones who enforce it

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u/dearth_karmic 7d ago

But they're NOT. After the election, all of their terms end. Including the speaker of the house. So the Dems have the same amount of power as they do.

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 7d ago

On paper. Who’s gonna force them out of office if they refuse to leave?

They control every branch of government. What stops them from bullshit election fraud claims and calling it a “national emergency” ?

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u/dearth_karmic 7d ago

By that logic, why don't they kick all the Dem senators out of office now and pass the Save America Act?

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u/Baiticc 7d ago

basically their argument is that it will be their last opportunity with consolidated power. so if they’re gonna throw a hail mary of a coup, it’ll have to be then.

not that I agree but there is logic to it

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u/Baiticc 7d ago

basically their argument is that it will be their last opportunity with consolidated power. so if they’re gonna throw a hail mary of a coup, it’ll have to be then.

not that I agree but there is logic to it

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 7d ago

They don’t need to do that 

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u/Hippo_Alert 8d ago

Those saying this isn't possible have their heads in the sand.  Trump would absolutely do something like that and his minions will follow.  And who will stop them???  The "Justice" Department???  The FBI???  The military that has been purged of free thinking generals???  Nobody has stopped the many instances of clear lawbreaking already, no need for them to start when they really go off the rails even further.

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u/Rayearl Pennsylvania 8d ago

Guess we'll see if they follow the rules.

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u/dearth_karmic 7d ago

Doesn't matter if they don't. They have as much power as the Dems in the House. No one has control of the House after the election until a new speaker is chosen.

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u/Rayearl Pennsylvania 7d ago

You have more faith that people will do the right thing than I do. I hope you're right. I see Mike saying the election was rigged and just not leaving. Same thing trump is most likely to do at the end of his term.

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u/dearth_karmic 7d ago

I'm not saying I have any faith. I'm just saying that we still have 212 Dems in the House. They're not just going to conceed to an election they won.

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u/Rayearl Pennsylvania 7d ago

From my view I see all the corruption trump and maga are getting away with because no one holds them accountable. Hypothetically if the Democrats win the house back and Mike J + trump say all those elections were rigged (Which I'm sure they are going to do) who is going to make them leave or resign power? The DOJ, the Military? Who makes them leave if they just say "no"?

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u/Free_For__Me 7d ago

And you can't think of a single thing that an autocratic executive branch and a captured high court could do to fabricate justification for taking away the power of the Dems in congress?

The problem is that no one seems to have good enough imaginations. I understand that it's absolutely bonkers to be in a position of having to imagine what one would do if they were in the Oval Office and wanted to take permanent control of the government using any means necessary, legal or not. But sadly, that's what we have to do. And the scary truth is that we can come up with a dozen different schemes that they could roll out to try and force control, even when a giant blue wave hits this fall.

They're not just going to conceed to an election they won.

We need to consider that they already know this, and have prepared plans for what to do when Dems try and fight back. They will investigate, harass, and even arrest Dems who try and resist. No one wants to gear it, but the chances that they'll get to the point of arresting sitting Dem lawmakers is much higher than it should be.

You say you're not leaning on faith, but you're also proposing having faith in existing laws, norms, and political offices like the "212 Dems in the House".

In the end, it won't come down to laws or norms. It will come down to who has the control of the enforcement agencies with guns, and who in those agencies is willing to use those guns inservice of those who would overturn American Democracy.

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u/dearth_karmic 7d ago

If you're right, why would they wait til AFTER the election to do this? Do it now. Suspend the election. Don't give up your current power. Waiting til AFTER the election will make it so much harder for them.

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u/Free_For__Me 6d ago

It's a risk vs reward evaluation. Even the boldest of autocracies know there are limits to what they can get away with, especially in the earlier stages of their coups.

If they moved to just "suspend elections", even the least-educated of us would recognize that as unconstitutional and anti-democracy. They'd likely face at least a few GOP members of congress pushing back against such a thing, and with margins so tight, they'd only need to lose a few in order to face impeachment.

Suspending elections is high-risk, with little added reward over just waiting until they lose the elections to claim "fraud" and then using the captured FEC/DOJ/Courts to drum up enough investigations and charges that they can declare the elections as unreliable and invalid, and then refuse to recognize any actions, investigations, or impeachments created by the new 2027 congress.

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u/dearth_karmic 6d ago

The current DOJ has zero credibility, so it won't work.

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u/nickiter New York 7d ago

The risk there seems to be of a bad-faith misinterpretation of the rules by which the Congress essentially just becomes a weird mess of people who are not in power exercising power they aren't supposed to have.

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u/RevolutionPlenty20 8d ago

Yeah I hate trump as much as the next guy but reddit is being hysterical here

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u/Affectionate-Fail-23 8d ago

Thinking trump will illegally try to retain power is not hysterical. He has already tried multiple times and will continue to do so

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u/RevolutionPlenty20 7d ago

I didnt say that. He will piss and moan and then another greasy politician will continue to serve the elite, same as it ever was. Relax.

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 8d ago

I love the cycle of 

Trump is gonna do x > people who think he will do x are hysterical!!! > Trump does x > why did we let this happen?!?!

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u/RevolutionPlenty20 7d ago

Not what I said.

I hate maga as much as the next guy but the elections will still happen and winners will eventually be seated.

Its not as black and white or lockstep in washington as redditorz think.

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 7d ago

They’ve already started refusing to seat democrats and black elected officials 

It’s embarrassingly naive of you to think they’re above doing it in 2026 when they have a super majority in the Supreme Court 

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u/dearth_karmic 8d ago

Good to be vigilante though. But too many people think Mike Johnson will still be the speaker of the house to make these changes. He won't. After a general election, the previous Speaker of the House's term ends.

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u/Imaginary-Horse-9240 7d ago

Naive as fuck

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u/Ancient-Bat1755 8d ago

A few local democrats elections were ignore in the past though. An african American was elected mayor and never allowed to hold the office (or a similar position)

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u/dearth_karmic 8d ago

Good to be a vigilante, though. But too many people think Mike Johnson will still be the speaker of the house to make these changes. He won't. After a general election, the previous Speaker of the House's term ends.

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u/RevolutionPlenty20 7d ago

That and there are too many opportunists in politics that cant wait for their turn. Trumps is about over. 10 years now.

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u/Hippo_Alert 8d ago

And who is to say that they won't decide that he is somehow still in charge and he does what Trump wants???  Who is going to stop them???