# Is Trump planning a scorched earth policy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886 "2020-10-25T23:36:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mortimus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Mortimus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886/1 "2020-10-25T23:36:41Z")
For now I’m going to assume Trump will lose and Biden will become prez. The pessimist in me says that there will be a bunch of legal shenanigans and Trump will somehow slither into a second term. But assuming Trump actually loses and concedes to the loss, his lame duck status doesn’t take away the fact that he still has about 3 months to totally screw with Biden’s chances of getting anything done. I can see him going totally scorched earth, wrecking every every thing he possibly can, poisoning every well, salting the earth as he goes. He will not leave gracefully. How do see him acting in his death throes? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886/2 "2020-10-25T23:46:15Z")
There are several threads in this vein already ongoing. A couple of recent ones: > [@If Trump loses, what does it mean "He won't go quietly."?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-loses-what-does-it-mean-he-wont-go-quietly/923352): > > [This quote is the latest of many in the same vein.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-bolton-jake-tapper-cnn-trump-wont-leave_n_5f8d04e9c5b69daf5e14984c) But as far as I know, Trump can’t just not leave. If he loses the election, come January 20th, a new president gets sworn in whether he likes it or not. He may (or may not) get his more fanatical followers to do some dumb shit but what is all this scared talk of a constitutional crisis? Please explain it to me as if my advancing age has dulled my facilities because I swear I’m dumber than I used to be. > [@Hypothetical scenario: Trump loses and goes 'scorched earth' on his way out. What does it look like?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-scenario-trump-loses-and-goes-scorched-earth-on-his-way-out-what-does-it-look-like/920490): > > The title probably sums it up, but let’s say Trump loses and Sens McConnell and Graham walk over to the WH a few days after Nov 3rd and tell Trump he needs to accept defeat for the good of the nation and all that shit. Let’s say Trump tells them what they want to hear in that short meeting and he promises to arrange a presser in a day or two to address his defeat, but then…doesn’t. Instead he whips up his base using social media and his Fox News blowhards to stoke tensions and claim that the vo… ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Mortimus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus1)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886/3 "2020-10-25T23:51:25Z")
Sorry for being redundant flurb. I tried to delete my post but for whatever reason this new interface won’t let me. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886/4 "2020-10-26T00:02:18Z")
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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-planning-a-scorched-earth-policy/923886/5 "2020-10-26T00:02:42Z")
Closed as a duplicate. Please see the other threads linked to above.