# Trump is dying

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [August 27, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520 "2025-08-27T07:09:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 174

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**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3465 "2026-07-29T02:08:27Z")

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> [@Smapti](#):
>
> I see no reason to believe that at eight years older and much less popular he’ll somehow be BETTER at undermining democracy.

Trump is being used. I imagine that the Project 2025 guys are thankful every single day that they have someone so completely amoral and unethical to be the face of their vision. Someone who will never question or oppose their tactics because power is all he wants. Well, that and money. Trump is not running the show at this point.

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**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3466 "2026-07-29T03:46:41Z")

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While I agree there is no way DJT can extend his term beyond January 20, 2029 short of a full on coup I will say I don’t agree with the idea

> [@Smapti](#):
>
> No state will list a candidate on the ballot if they’re ineligible for the office they want to run for…

I can think of a few states (Texas, Arkansas, Alabama) who would possibly put him on the ballot if he demanded it but

> [@Smapti](#):
>
> …an electoral vote cast for them would not be valid.

I still believe this is correct. As corrupt as the Roberts Court may be I can’t see anything but a ruling by at least 6 of the justices tossing out the illegal electoral votes.

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**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3467 "2026-07-29T03:51:22Z")

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Are you sure? I can see four of them at least adopting the position that it is a political question left to Congress to resolve and as such the courts are powerless to intervene. Two more would be maybes.

What is my point? Don’t take anything for granted. Despite what fascist boot-lickers and génocidaires might say, we all need to be on continuous alert and calling out the bullshit when we see it, not resting comfortably on assurances that “it’ll never happen.”

Resist.

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**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3468 "2026-07-29T03:52:33Z")

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> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#):
>
> I can think of a few states (Texas, Arkansas, Alabama) who would possibly put him on the ballot if he demanded it

IANAL but I’d be surprised if there isn’t a requirement to at least sign something swearing that you’re eligible to run when filing the paperwork to be on the ballot. If Trump falsely signed such a thing, or didn’t sign it at all, and the SoS accepted their application anyway, it’d be a slam-dunk in court.

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3469 "2026-07-29T03:54:26Z")

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> [@Smapti](#):
>
> it’d be a slam-dunk in court.

Like his 34 indictments?  
🧐

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**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3470 "2026-07-29T03:54:58Z")

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The ones he was found guilty on?

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**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3471 "2026-07-29T04:02:23Z")

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You mean the 34 counts he was indicted and convicted on where the judge gave him no prison time, fines, house arrest, or probation, leaving the felony convictions on his record without further criminal penalties? Hardly a deterrent if you ask me.

Abbott and Huckabee are just 2 examples of Governors who would do whatever DJT wants.

And as I noted, it won’t do him any good as I’m confident SCOTUS would say nope, not on our watch.

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**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3472 "2026-07-29T04:14:44Z")

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> [@ASL\_v2.0](#):
>
> Don’t take anything for granted.

I’m not taking anything for granted and I agree we have to stay on continuous alert for bullshit from the MAGAfacists. But I would say I am reasonably confident Roberts and Coney Barrett would not go along with tossing out the 22nd Amendment and overturning our form of government just because it is what DJT wants. I expect Gorsuch would be the sixth vote in the scenario I was discussing but even if he went with Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas it would still be a defeat for MAGA.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3473 "2026-07-29T04:28:39Z")

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> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> To me, the operative question is “how does someone’s name get on the actual physical or electronic BALLOT where the voter chooses the president?” What agency, local, state, political, or other organization or individual makes that decision? _That is where the rubber meets the road._ If that decision is under the authority of someone in state government, then Red state party/county/precinct/election officials at the point where ballots are composed and finalized could VERY WELL decide to put trump’s name on their area’s ballots. Who’s going to stop them?

Didn’t Colorado rule that Trump was ineligible to be on their ballots in 2024 (for supporting an insurrection, I think); and wasn’t that appealed to the Supreme Court, which then overruled Colorado and forced him back on the ballots?

So apparently it’s not a state decision. If some state puts Trump on their ballot in 2028, and Democrats appeal it to SCOTUS, it will be interesting to see how they rule.

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**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3474 "2026-07-29T04:48:25Z")

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> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#):
>
> Abbott and Huckabee are just 2 examples of Governors who would do whatever DJT wants.

Governors don’t put people on the ballot. Secretaries of State do, and they’re elected officials who don’t report to the governor.

> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Didn’t Colorado rule that Trump was ineligible to be on their ballots in 2024 (for supporting an insurrection, I think); and wasn’t that appealed to the Supreme Court, which then overruled Colorado and forced him back on the ballots?

Specifically because Section V of the 14th puts the power of enforcement in the hands of Congress and not the states.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump\_v.\_Anderson#Ruling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._Anderson#Ruling)

> In an unsigned per curiam opinion issued March 4, 2024, the Court unanimously ruled that, as set forth in Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress has the exclusive power to enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment; as such, the courts (federal or otherwise) cannot declare a candidate ineligible for office under the said Section 3 unless an Act of Congress explicitly grants them that power.

States can and do exclude people from the ballot if they’re ineligible for other reasons. Cite;

> **[Arkansas rules online news personality Cenk Uygur won't qualify for...](https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-cenk-uygur-democrats-president-2024-election-a2e5991c5186ab56cc61b45d30a38718)**
>
> Arkansas election officials say online news personality Cenk Uygur is ineligible to appear on the ballot in the state's Democratic presidential primary next year.

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**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3475 "2026-07-29T08:31:21Z")

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> [@Smapti](#):
>
> slam-dunk in court.

Not if the judge is Aileen Cannon.  
Stealing secret documents and storing them in the bathroom at Mar a Lago should have been a slam dunk, too.

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**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3476 "2026-07-29T08:41:43Z")

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Smapti’s got a point, if we ignore all the times Trump did a thing that he was not legally allowed to do and no one undid that thing, then we got nothing.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3477 "2026-07-29T12:26:13Z")

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> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#):
>
> As corrupt as the Roberts Court may be I can’t see anything but a ruling by at least 6 of the justices tossing out the illegal electoral votes.

I’m relieved to learn SCOTUS decisions are now self-executing.

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**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3478 "2026-07-29T14:39:21Z")

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> [@Smapti](#):
>
> Governors don’t put people on the ballot. Secretaries of State do, and they’re elected officials who don’t report to the governor.

Whether the SOS is elected or appointed varies by state. In Texas they are appointed by the governor. Same in DE, FL, MD, NJ, NY, OK, PA and VA. The current SOS of Arkansas was appointed by Huckabee due to a vacancy so there are other ways it can happen. There is a special election in Arkansas to fill the office and the GOP candidate will certainly win. He is Kim Hammer and his record in the State Senate shows he is a total MAGA Trump worshipper who has called for political war against Democrats.

I agree with you that I don’t think DJT will be able to successfully get elected to a 3rd term but there are enough MAGA officials at the state level who oversee ballot access that there is plenty of opportunity for him to get on the ballot in some places. It won’t work in the end but that doesn’t mean they won’t try.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3479 "2026-07-29T14:47:49Z")

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ISTM the most important outcome, the one the Project 2025 folks _really_ want, is for there to be a credible narrative (at least credible to RW folks), that the 2026 and 2028 elections should have been runaway landslides for Republicans. Except D cheating stymied that truth.

Just as the South continues to believe they should have won the Civil War, and so they keep relitigating it it by other means 150 years later, the Fascists want to win in 2028. But if they can’t quite pull it off, keeping the story alive until 2032 that they really did win in 2028 and that Evil D cheating must be avenged will be a very, very useful narrative for them to spin. Which is why they’ve already started doing so.

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**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3480 "2026-07-29T14:50:38Z")

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I fear sooner or later, if not in 2028, they’ll make a serious coup attempt, people should be preparing themselves, an organized plan to respond to such an attempt will be needed.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3481 "2026-07-29T17:21:44Z")

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Yes, maybe Trump can’t be president after the end of this term, but he can be dictator, emperor, i6s whatever other title he chooses.

If he lives that long.

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**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3482 "2026-07-29T18:14:02Z")

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> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> Yes, maybe Trump can’t be president after the end of this term, but he can be dictator, emperor, i6s whatever other title he chooses.

CALVIN: This whole club was my idea, so I get to be president.

HOBBES: OK, then I get to be king and tyrant.

CALVIN: Hey, no! **THAT’S** what I want to be! **You** can be president!

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3483 "2026-07-29T18:44:07Z")

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We are indeed living through a game of Calvinball played by a toddler tyrant.

But with real weapons and real klepto-everything. It’s not as funny once you put the real stuff into the game.

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520/3484 "2026-07-29T18:47:46Z")

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Ow, my eye!  
😜

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