# What happens if Trump dies during his campaign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 8, 2023, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741 "2023-05-08T10:51:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/41 "2023-05-08T18:14:51Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > No, as others have said, he’ll be enshrined as some kind of saint, or maybe even deity. Exactly. The man will die, but his legacy will live on. We still talk about “Reaganomics” even though Reagan left office in 1988, and died in 2004. And at the risk of…well…Hitler’s legacy is still with us. So there’s no reason to believe that trump’s mindset among the masses won’t linger. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > A presidential aide says to Trump; “Sir, I had a dream about your parade last night.” When I read that joke, I immediately thought of saying, [Thank you very much, thank you very much, that’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkq7WZTzkLQ) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/42 "2023-05-08T18:24:29Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Has anyone considered what would happen if a major party candidate dies suddenly two or three days before an election? The Master speaks on a related topic: **[What if the U.S. president and vice president-elect die before being sworn in?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341305/what-if-the-u-s-president-and-vice-president-elect-die-before-being-sworn-in)** _Edit:_ Exanding on this a bit more (assuming you mean two or three days before the popular vote in November), the ballots and party elector slate for each state would presumably already be set, and votes for the departed candidate would probably be handled as if the candidate had died between the popular and electoral votes: > What would probably have happened if Reagan had died would be that the Republican National Committee would have gotten together and nominated a new candidate, whom the electors, being mostly loyal party functionaries, would likely then elect without further ado. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/43 "2023-05-08T18:25:08Z")
Bringing out the big guns now, I see. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/44 "2023-05-08T18:37:38Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I look forward to the Go-Fund-Me to carve a fifth, extra-fat head on Mount Rushmore getting underway. There are a couple of lumps next to Lincoln that would make a nice sexual organ. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/45 "2023-05-08T18:40:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So it all comes down to a small number of swing states. Which will be massively targeted by the R machine, both the legal side and the illegal voter suppression, fake counts, etc., side. And I think we’ll see a _much_ better effort in swing states to get the Electoral votes for the R candidate, even if the D candidate gets more votes. Last time they tried this, but did not have the processes fully in place. This has been “fixed” now, so that a Republican statehouse can simply declare the winner, no matter how the vote went. The game is about getting more Electoral Votes (however you get them), not necessarily about getting the most votes from the public. So expect some interesting, undemocratic shenanigans again, only this time they will work. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/46 "2023-05-08T18:50:57Z")
Remember when, on the Simpsons, cartoons were banned, and all the kids appeared on their front steps at the same time, blinking against the sun? Then they adjusted to the new life and had all kinds of wholesome fun, without cartoons’ malevolent influence. Hopefully his psychic power will die with him, and the MAGAts will be marginalized to extinction. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/47 "2023-05-08T21:16:10Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Surely you mean George Soros? (Chavez died 10 years ago) Didn’t stop him running that ballot machine scam. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/48 "2023-05-08T22:02:50Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think a lot of Republicans breath a sigh of relief … I agree. I imagine there are a lot of voters who think they’re aligned with GOP values\*\* – pro-business, lower taxes, less regulation, strong military, etc. – but who are disgusted by Trump. They won’t vote for him, but they might vote for any less-disgusting GOP nominee. \*\* We all know these aren’t even remotely what the GOP stands for – well, maybe the taxes part – but it’s their brand, and what a lot of poorly informed voters may still believe. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/49 "2023-05-09T01:56:35Z")
I came here to pretty much say what you did in the final sentence. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/50 "2023-05-09T01:58:20Z")
I don’t drink but I’ll join you ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/51 "2023-05-09T02:35:37Z")
Good career move. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/52 "2023-05-09T02:48:04Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I look forward to the Go-Fund-Me to carve a fifth, extra-fat head on Mount Rushmore getting underway. I would actually support putting Trump on Mt. Rushmore if instead of his face they just carved out two teensy-weensy, soft baby hands. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/53 "2023-05-09T02:51:30Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > So what happens if natural causes take him As to procedure, If after the nomination and before the electoral college votes, the RNC can vote on a successor or reconvene the national convention for that purpose. If after he becomes president-elect (disagreement as to whether this is when electoral college votes or when Congress counts the votes, most scholars say the former), the Twentieth Amendment says the vice-president elect becomes president elect. There is precedent for Congress to simply toss votes for a candidate who was already dead when the electoral college met. See CRS R44648, " Presidential Elections: Vacancies in Major-Party Candidacies and the Position of President-Elect" (2020) [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R44648](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R44648) > Horace Greeley, the 1872 presidential nominee of the Democratic and Liberal Republican Parties, died on November 29 of that year, 24 days after the election, but six days before the December 5 meeting > of the electors. The Democratic National Committee did not meet to name a replacement candidate—63 Greeley electors voted for other candidates, while three voted for Greeley. When the joint session of Congress convened to count the electoral votes on February 12, 1873, the three Greeley votes were not recorded, “the said Horace Greeley having died before the votes were cast.”11 Even so, the question as to the validity of Greeley’s electoral votes was of little concern, since the “stalwart” or “regular” Republican nominee, Ulysses S. Grant, had won the election in a landslide, gaining 286 electoral votes. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/54 "2023-05-09T02:57:29Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > To recycle an old Hitler joke, Trump will die on a major American holiday. > > Because any day he dies will be declared a major American holiday. Instead, after he dies, let’s celebrate his birthday by indulging in mass orgies in much the same way we celebrate Hitler’s birthday by indulging in copious amounts of cannabis. Regardless, no matter what else happens, one thing is for sure: a whole mess of kids are going to be born in the weeks surrounding Trump’s nine-month death-o-versary. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/55 "2023-05-09T11:07:00Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I would actually support putting Trump on Mt. Rushmore if instead of his face they just carved out two teensy-weensy, soft baby hands. I think we should put Donald Trump on Mount Rushmore now. I don’t mean “carve his likeness”. I mean physically put him up there and leave him. Preferably without access to social media. If Trump dies during his campaign (which is already happening), it really depends on _when_. If he dies now, all the other candidates will pay insincere lipservice and then try to outTrump each other in an attempt to attract Trump’s followers. If he dies in mid-primary season it will be trickier for his opponents who by that time will have been insulting him nonstop to do a 180, although that’s never stopped them before. And if he gets the nomination and dies before the general election, it will be endless hagiographies from the GOP and right-wing media as a means to drive their voters to the polls to “honor his memory”. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/56 "2023-05-09T16:26:40Z")
You’re absolutely right. Sometimes I get distracted by logic, facts and reason. Thinking in maga-ese requires a different approach. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/57 "2023-05-09T16:28:16Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > If he dies in mid-primary season it will be trickier for his opponents who by that time will have been insulting him nonstop to do a 180, although that’s never stopped them before. I don’t see a lot of daylight there. “I’m more MAGA than the original, who wasn’t real effective last time and is now hobbled by scandal, so vote for me this time to really deliver real MAGA” versus “I’m more MAGA than anybody else still on the stage, now that the original has died. So vote for me to really deliver real MAGA” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/58 "2023-05-09T17:31:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I don’t see a lot of daylight there. “I’m more MAGA than the original, who wasn’t real effective last time and is now hobbled by scandal, so vote for me this time to really deliver real MAGA” versus “I’m more MAGA than anybody else still on the stage, now that the original has died. So vote for me to really deliver real MAGA” You forgot the scapegoating. Try (my adjustments in yellow) “I’m more MAGA than the original, who wasn’t real effective last time because of Democrats and Liberals and is now hobbled by scandal manufactured by Democrats and Liberals, so vote for me this time to really deliver real MAGA because gloves are off in dealing with Democrats and Liberals” vs “I’m more MAGA than anybody else still on the stage, now that the original, impeded by Democrats and Liberals, has died. So vote for me to really deliver real MAGA because gloves are off in dealing with Democrats and Liberals.” Substitute the scapegoated group in your local headlines. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/59 "2023-05-09T19:50:24Z")
Well said. With that smokescreen of transference, the properly-primed (IOW R-leaning) audience practically has to agree that this guy is the one. Whoever he is. And I use the gender non-neutral term “he” on purpose here. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741/60 "2023-05-09T20:07:59Z")
Trump, dead? No, he is just [resting](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00113just~resting.html)! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-dies-during-his-campaign/983741.md?page=4)