Will Trump launch a coup during Biden's term?

[Tender Branson]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

[dead0man]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

[Angel of Death]

It's telling how much Trump has "frog-boiled" even the minds of his opponents, because all the things he's been doing up till now, would already have been considered a coup attempt in the old days.

[R.P. McM]

It's telling how much Trump has "frog-boiled" even the minds of his opponents, because all the things he's been doing up till now, would already have been considered a coup attempt in the old days.

Many moderate, institutionalist Democrats are deeply uncomfortable confronting the reality of the situation. They casually label Trump a "fascist" or a "traitor," but then desperately try to elide the question of what that makes Trump's supporters and his party. Obviously, the prospect of harmonious coexistence with tens of millions of traitorous fascists is incredibly dim. But they won't seriously consider the alternatives until we're all mired in a dystopian disaster. No, they'll just gradually shift their standards until the water starts to simmer ...

[dead0man]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

this post has not aged well! <shock face>

[compucomp]

Nice job bringing this thread back, I guess Trump didn't even wait for Biden to take office? Or this doesn't count since as far as we can tell the insurrection is not armed?

[Frodo]

Calm down.

...as you were saying?

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

Well he just did before the term started.

[Hnv1]

Him and what army?

[compucomp]

Thinking back on my original post, my conclusion now is that a coup definitely could have succeeded, but Trump screwed the pooch by launching a coup last Wednesday. What he could have done, if he were entirely cold and rational, is to dial back his rhetoric slightly so as to not provoke the riot at the Capitol, but keep the "stolen election" drumbeat going well into Biden's term. This would have caused the Republican party to coalesce around this view, giving the impression that half the country considers Biden illegitimate, and then the pro-MAGA factions in the military would have gained strength; we now know that these factions in fact exist. Once that strength was enough Trump could have launched a real coup with military and Republican establishment backing, overthrown Biden, and the rest of the military could have been intimidated into accepting the result.

Instead, he launched the coup too early when it was without military support and doomed to fail, got himself impeached and his cause discredited to the point that MAGA is openly associated with terrorism and treason in the public eye, and now his militias are being prosecuted and the sympathetic factions in the police and military in the process of being purged. Maybe this proves that Trump is not really playing 4D chess but just does whatever the hell he feels like, and it really, really didn't work for him this time.

[Bootes Void]

Thinking back on my original post, my conclusion now is that a coup definitely could have succeeded, but Trump screwed the pooch by launching a coup last Wednesday. What he could have done, if he were entirely cold and rational, is to dial back his rhetoric slightly so as to not provoke the riot at the Capitol, but keep the "stolen election" drumbeat going well into Biden's term. This would have caused the Republican party to coalesce around this view, giving the impression that half the country considers Biden illegitimate, and then the pro-MAGA factions in the military would have gained strength; we now know that these factions in fact exist. Once that strength was enough Trump could have launched a real coup with military and Republican establishment backing, overthrown Biden, and the rest of the military could have been intimidated into accepting the result.

Instead, he launched the coup too early when it was without military support and doomed to fail, got himself impeached and his cause discredited to the point that MAGA is openly associated with terrorism and treason in the public eye, and now his militias are being prosecuted and the sympathetic factions in the police and military in the process of being purged. Maybe this proves that Trump is not really playing 4D chess but just does whatever the hell he feels like, and it really, really didn't work for him this time.

this sounds like a fantasy, even if the military and the establishment wanted to launch a coup against Biden, they would not have Trump as the choice. Anyways I doubt a coup is ever going to happen as the US institutions make it too difficult to ever pull it off realistically .

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

This is your quadrennial reminder that people in general tend to underestimate what Trump will do until AFTER it happens.

In case the poll changes from new votes, this is what it looks like just prior to me bumping it (but even then it had already been bumped twice, once on Jan 6 itself, and once on Jan 15). So on January 3 or so, when the thread was started, it would have been even more lopsided with people not expecting Trump could possibly try to launch a coup:



And yet, only a few days afterwards, he tried to do exactly that.

[GAinDC]

This is your quadrennial reminder that people in general tend to underestimate what Trump will do until AFTER it happens.

In case the poll changes from new votes, this is what it looks like just prior to me bumping it (but even then it had already been bumped twice, once on Jan 6 itself, and once on Jan 15). So on January 3 or so, when the thread was started, it would have been even more lopsided with people not expecting Trump could possibly try to launch a coup:



And yet, only a few days afterwards, he tried to do exactly that.

Thanks for flagging this!

I've been saying the same thing. When he says unhinged, reckless things, he's not joking. And yet the media and many of his supporters are still trying to rationalize everything he says. Believe him the first time!!

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

But it depends on how US will react once Biden is in power too. Lack of punishment is something that normalizes certain anti-Democratic behaviors. Trump not going to prison for his multiple crimes validates his future actions and allows him to go even further if he wants to. And that can contribute for (2) if it becomes a long term trend, like if he runs again in 2024.

I think this comment is particularly interesting in light of current events.

[Progressive Pessimist]

This is a very disturbingly prescient thread, and goes to show how dangerous Trump's volatility is.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Purple Unicorn is back, no there won't be a coup because of the military

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

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

Good call!

[dead0man]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

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

Good call!

I wish they shot a few more of them, and early.  Maybe most of the shenanigans that day would have been prevented.  Never should have a let a single one of them in the building.

[Obama24]

I think his election, if it happens, will be the coup in and of itself.

[Bernie Derangement Syndrome Haver]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

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

Good call!

I wish they shot a few more of them, and early.  Maybe most of the shenanigans that day would have been prevented.  Never should have a let a single one of them in the building.

The terrorists are lucky they didn't all get mowed down by gunfire. They certainly deserved to be.

[Sumner 1868]

This is your quadrennial reminder that people in general tend to underestimate what Trump will do until AFTER it happens.

In case the poll changes from new votes, this is what it looks like just prior to me bumping it (but even then it had already been bumped twice, once on Jan 6 itself, and once on Jan 15). So on January 3 or so, when the thread was started, it would have been even more lopsided with people not expecting Trump could possibly try to launch a coup:



And yet, only a few days afterwards, he tried to do exactly that.

Technically the majority of posters were correct. He hasn't tried since Biden was inaugurated.

[Inmate Trump]

Look at the posters laughing or ridiculing the OP’s question.

It was never hard to see Trump for what he was or to figure out his intentions. He’s a domestic terrorist. An insurrectionist. A traitor. He always has been. A coup attempt was always a likely possibility, and unfortunately because he hasn’t been punished (thanks Merrick Garland for dragging your feet) he will try it all again this time having learned from his mistakes.

And just to note, at the time of this post calling people “doomers” for posting *exactly* what Trump would do was a thing. The doomers were right.

[Yelnoc]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

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

Good call!

I wish they shot a few more of them, and early.  Maybe most of the shenanigans that day would have been prevented.  Never should have a let a single one of them in the building.

The terrorists are lucky they didn't all get mowed down by gunfire. They certainly deserved to be.

A massacre on the steps of the capital would have been extremely dangerous. That would have immediately shifted the narrative in favor of the protestors who would have been recast as "peaceful," or at the very least unarmed. That is the sort of event that might have fractured the armed forces and given Trump the backing of a section of the military. Thank god the Capitol police had more sense than that.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What happens if the Proud Boys & Co. storm the Congress on Wednesday and take the Democrats hostage ?

they get shot and/or arrested by the Capitol Police.

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

Good call!

I wish they shot a few more of them, and early.  Maybe most of the shenanigans that day would have been prevented.  Never should have a let a single one of them in the building.

The Capitol Police as an institution failed on January 6th to such a scandalous degree you might as well dismantle the agency  and replace it with something entirely new.

[ProudModerate2]

No.
trump is too stupid in organizing the launch of a coup.
Look how January 6th went for him.
Besides ... Biden, the Natl Guard and the military will be ready for anything large/threatening, this time. And they will not pussyfoot-around with crushing it.
I dare that Orange POS to try, though.