Thread by @shailjapatel

A coup attempt is under way. This is why Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in by night just days ago.

Every statement from the Trump campaign that delegitimizes the election is a green light for hate crimes.

U.S. exceptionalism - "this is America! We don't have coups!" - is also U.S. denialism - "we'll just pretend that Trump refusing to concede and whipping up white terrorist groups isn't a big deal."

"The General Services Administration (GSA) normally recognises a presidential candidate when it becomes clear who has won an election so that a transition of power can begin.
That has not yet happened despite US news networks declaring Biden the winner..."
businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/world/…

"the main goal of the litigation seemed to be to erode public confidence in the election"

nytimes.com/2020/11/09/bus…

"White supremacist groups like the Base train recruits with the goal of engaging in violent terrorism. Their words reflect their goals. The phrases “shoot,” “gun,” or “firearm” appeared in two-thirds of the conversations, a total of 360 times."

splcenter.org/news/2020/10/2…

"Attorney General William Barr upended long-standing Justice Department policy... a move that led to the resignation of Richard Pilger, the director of the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch."
democracynow.org/2020/11/10/tru…

Trump replaces the Secretary of Defense who opposed him in June on deploying the military against #BLM protestors.

npr.org/2020/11/09/933…

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee, is refusing to sign the paperwork to begin the transition.

"On Sunday, the agency said her position hasn't changed and that she cannot yet ascertain the winner of the presidential race."

cbsnews.com/news/biden-leg…

BREAKING: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when asked if the State Department will cooperate with a transition: "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

This is a coup.

Here's the video from the press conference.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1326227532358692865

It's telling that Pompeo invokes the 37 days of Bush v Gore in 2000. Here's the precedent the Trump campaign is likely to use.

guides.law.stanford.edu/c.php?g=991108…

Inauguration Day is January 20th.

Using language of personal dysfunction - denial, delusional, narcissist - for Trump minimizes the danger we're in. When a man who controls the world's largest nuclear arsenal and commands the world's largest military, refuses to leave office, that's not denial. It's a coup.

"The failure of the Democrats to come up with a plan for a contested election or for Trump refusing to leave office has concerned leftists since the start of his presidency." - @MollyOShah
therealnews.com/the-democrats-…

"Legal experts have noted these suits are meritless, and even if they were successful, would not be enough to overturn the election results. Indeed, judges in several of these lawsuits have already dismissed them..."

theguardian.com/us-news/2020/n…

If it walks like a coup and talks like a coup...

"a letter of "ascertainment" from the GSA administrator is essentially a formal recognition by the current administration that a new president has been elected and a transition will occur."

cbsnews.com/news/general-s…