Democracy in the United States is in crisis. If Donald Trump is defeated, the military could even be involved.
- Critics fear that Donald Trump * will not accept a possible election defeat in the 2020 U.S. election .
- The US president had accused the Democrats of "manipulating" the presidential election .
- Now his competitor Joe Biden is also very worried - and a US law professor warns.
Washington - What if the US President * Just Doesn't Want To Go? US presidential nominee Joe Biden has warned that incumbent Donald Trump * cannot accept defeat in the November election. His biggest concern is that Trump wants to "steal" the election, the US Democrat said on the television show "Daily Show" with moderator Trevor Noah on Wednesday. He referred to statements made by Trump, who had repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of postal votes.
When asked if he had ever considered the possibility that Trump might refuse to leave after a possible election defeat, Biden said, "Yes, I did." But he was convinced that the US military would be peaceful in this case Guarantee transfer of power and would escort Trump "from the White House".
Trump spokeswoman for Biden accusations before US election: "conspiracy theories"
Trump's spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany described what the former vice president said on the conservative news channel Fox News as “ridiculous”. The Democrats would spread "conspiracy theories" .
However, Trump had repeatedly claimed without any evidence that there was massive fraud in postal elections . This year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, a particularly large number of citizens are likely to want to vote to avoid going to an election office.
US election 2020: expert draws gloomy scenario - "Trump has previously refused ..."
The US law professor Lawrence Douglas considers the scenario that Trump does not want to leave the White House very conceivable. He has published a book on the possible outcome of the 2020 US election and said in an interview with the times : “I don't imagine that Trump barricades himself behind his desk in the Oval Office, surrounded by a few past loyalists and loyal secret Service agents "- but:" Trump already refused to promise in the last television duel with Hillary Clinton in 2016 that he would accept a defeat, "Douglas warned the newspaper.
The fact that Trump now questions the principle of postal voting is a clear indication of his dishonest plans: "Postal voting benefits the Democrats, which is why he is attacking them." And: "Trump is already laying the foundation today for the election in the November to be able to contest the results. ”In his opinion, the electoral process was not“ perfect ”, but it was also not more sensitive than other methods.
Accept electoral defeat? "Unimaginable that Trump would ever do something like this"
What Douglas is really concerned about is that the United States has an "extremely anachronistic and presumably dysfunctional system" to elect the president. In his opinion, a direct election would be much better - for them, however, a constitutional change would be needed , "and that is practically impossible". The US Constitution simply presupposes that things are going well when its presidents are handed over. An existing law in the event of obstacles is "so contradictory that it creates more problems than it solves," says the lawyer.
Douglas gives two examples in the conversation. In 1876, a presidential candidate contested the result, but it was "really unclear". Finally, in 2000, Al Gore only accepted his defeat against George W. Bush after a Supreme Court ruling - but then "magnanimously," Dougles says. "Unimaginable that Trump would ever do something like this," he believes.
Law professor on the 2020 US election: "In such a horror scenario ..."
Then what would happen? Douglas speculates that if two politicians claim that they are the legitimately elected US president, then clarification would have to take place “very quickly, if only because of the supreme command over the US military. In such a horror scenario, the military would ultimately have to decide who is Commander in Chief . ”
A horror scenario indeed, which seems a bit far-fetched. Douglas justified his dark visions in the Zeit interview: “Most politicians have accepted and internalized the values and rules of the democratic process. And we've never had a president who accepted the rules of the system as little as Donald Trump, who even aggressively rejects them. ”
Trump wants to secure a second term in the presidential election on November 3. However, surveys currently see him both nationwide and in key countries behind his challenger Biden.
frs with AFP material
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Rubric list image: © dpa / Evan Vucci
