You know, most strongmen at least pretend that they will abide by the results of their (usually fraudulent) democratic elections. Even they know better than to openly say: yes, I’m thinking about clinging to power through the use of force - next question?!
Also how does a comment like that not immediately shut down whatever exchange was previously taking place? How is it not immediate breaking news on every channel? “President hints at use of violence to hang on to power” is kind of an existentially massive deal.
And taking the line that “he’s just trolling” isn’t rational, given the stakes. Maybe the pilot was kidding when he said he intends to fly us into that mountain. Or, maybe, he’s going to fly us into the mtn. The disparity in consequences means you take the mtn scenario seriously.
To be clear: he’s not joking. He’s openly stating that he will continue to make the (false) case that mail-in-ballots are fraudulent/cheating, and attempt to enact a “continuation” of his admin on that basis. That’s called a coup. He’s talking about a coup.
And here’s the thing: even a failed, or just incompetent, attempt at overthrowing the constitutional order of the U.S. would be catastrophic for social and political stability in this country. His ploy doesn’t even have to work to be destructive to civil peace.
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