# What If Trump Doesn't Leave? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 15, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172 "2018-06-15T20:11:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/81 "2018-06-17T05:15:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > When I Google “obama wanted a third term” I get 21.7 million hits. Q.E.D. > > The problem isn’t finding the cites — the Internet is full of them — but refining the query. > “obama wanted a third term Hillary is a witch” gets 953,000 hits. > “obama wanted a third term Hillary is a witch child sex ring” gets 712,000 hits. > Hope this helps? Sure, there are people claiming Obama wanted a third term. But none of them were Democrats cheering for the idea, which is what Urbanredneck claimed. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/82 "2018-06-17T08:58:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure, there are people claiming Obama wanted a third term. But none of them were Democrats cheering for the idea, which is what Urbanredneck claimed. Google “democrats cheering obama wanted a third term Hillary is a witch child sex ring” — 282,000 hits Does the right-wing need a better cite than this in today’s America? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/83 "2018-06-17T13:01:19Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Good grief, what a question. I neve thought I would see the SDMB reminding me of some of my relatives’ Facebook rantings, i.e., “Obama will not leave office he will become a dictator” “Obama gonna cancel the election” blah blah blah. > > I do worry a little about the way this country is going with regard to changing the guard. You never used to hear about people wanting to lock up the members of the outgoing regime or, for that matter, the opponents they lost to. What are we, some banana republic? Throwing the people you just defeated in jail (or worse) is one of the hallmarks of a shithole country. And yet republicans have been attacking Hillary for how long is it now? Eight, ten years? Trump is a criminal. His rise to the Presidency has exposed his criminal dealings that he has managed to hide for many years. Of course a President will be looked at closely and all of Trumps shenanigans are being exposed. As they should be. This isn’t ‘locking him up’ for political reasons, it’s for his crimes. It’s a bad idea for a shady businessman to step into a spotlight and expose themselves. Trump thought that as president, he would not have to answer to anyone. When, in fact, the exact opposite is true. (this really just shows how stupid he really is). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/84 "2018-06-17T13:05:40Z")
That’s optimistic. Trump will skate. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/85 "2018-06-17T13:30:09Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > That’s optimistic. Trump will skate. That’s probably true. But I do hope that he gets pushed out. Republicans drop like flies in 2018, and will hopefully remember this. And the next president will un-Executive Order all his harmful EOs. It may be a lesson to candidates and political parties to not nominate criminals for any office. I’m am being optimistic. But ya gotta start somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/86 "2018-06-17T14:44:59Z")
(bolding mine) > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I do worry a little about the way this country is going with regard to changing the guard. You never used to hear about people wanting to lock up **the members of the outgoing regime** or, for that matter, the opponents they lost to. What are we, some banana republic? Throwing the people you just defeated in jail (or worse) is one of the hallmarks of a shithole country. So is referring to administrations as “regimes”. We don’t have regimes in America. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/87 "2018-06-17T14:52:25Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Google “democrats cheering obama wanted a third term Hillary is a witch child sex ring” — 282,000 hits > > Does the right-wing need a better cite than this in today’s America? :rolleyes: 282,000 times nothing is still nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/88 "2018-06-17T16:48:24Z")
Cancelling elections and refusing to leave are two different issues. Cancelling elections isn’t going to happen. As many have pointed out, elections are run by the states. There are just too many for Trump to handle. Blue states would refuse to cancel their elections, but some red states might comply. This makes a Democratic victory even more likely. As for Trump refusing to leave (and essentially staging a coup), I have to say that I do believe he is capable of doing this. Maher was right about a key issue: he noted that Trump hated the job at first, but now that he’s used to the power he holds, he’s thrilled with it and won’t give it up easily. And he’s also noted that every time people have said, “Trump wouldn’t dare do…”, they were wrong. I have no doubt that Trump is brazenly going to try to pardon his way out of his numerous current messes. He just doesn’t care what anyone thinks or says he should do or is obliged to do. Trump’s shameless lack of regard for anyone and bottomless well of desire for power make him the perfect storm to stage some sort of coup. Moreover, I have no confidence in his lapdogs in Congress to stop him. Fortunately for the rest of us, there’s one thing working against him: he’s kinda dumb. The real issue is, how many people in power could he rally around him in support of his coup? My guess is more than you’d think. However, it would likely all fall apart due to the gigantic drop in the financial markets, a drop that would infect virtually all other world markets. The ramifications of this would be so severe that all of Trump’s loyalists would abandon him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/89 "2018-06-17T17:01:35Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Google “democrats cheering obama wanted a third term Hillary is a witch child sex ring” — 282,000 hits > > Does the right-wing need a better cite than this in today’s America? :rolleyes: I’m sure I could find a quarter million cites on the Internet if I googled “Democrats practice cannibalism” but that doesn’t mean it ever happened. This is just the right wing citing the right wing. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/90 "2018-06-17T17:08:37Z")
> [@Malienation](#): > > Cancelling elections and refusing to leave are two different issues. Cancelling elections isn’t going to happen. As many have pointed out, elections are run by the states. There are just too many for Trump to handle. Blue states would refuse to cancel their elections, but some red states might comply. This makes a Democratic victory even more likely. > > As for Trump refusing to leave (and essentially staging a coup), I have to say that I do believe he is capable of doing this. > > Maher was right about a key issue: he noted that Trump hated the job at first, but now that he’s used to the power he holds, he’s thrilled with it and won’t give it up easily. And he’s also noted that every time people have said, “Trump wouldn’t dare do…”, they were wrong. I have no doubt that Trump is brazenly going to try to pardon his way out of his numerous current messes. He just doesn’t care what anyone thinks or says he should do or is obliged to do. Trump’s shameless lack of regard for anyone and bottomless well of desire for power make him the perfect storm to stage some sort of coup. Moreover, I have no confidence in his lapdogs in Congress to stop him. Fortunately for the rest of us, there’s one thing working against him: he’s kinda dumb. There is no question on whether trump would like to be a dictator for life. He has pushed in that direction, and whined and complained any time he found anything thwarting his desire for absolute power. It is not up to him to stop trying to be a dictator, it is up to us to ensure the invocation of the checks and balances to prevent that. > [@](#): > > The real issue is, how many people in power could he rally around him in support of his coup? My guess is more than you’d think. > > However, it would likely all fall apart due to the gigantic drop in the financial markets, a drop that would infect virtually all other world markets. The ramifications of this would be so severe that all of Trump’s loyalists would abandon him. I don’t know. He’s a populist demagogue, and they do best when people are at their worst. After the longests financial recovery in american history, he managed to convince people that the economy was a shambles and only he could fix it. Should the economy collapse, I am sure he can convince the same people that it is the fault of others that are just trying to hurt him and america, and that only he can fix it. IOW, a failing economy would play more into his hands, not against him. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/91 "2018-06-17T19:22:29Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > It’s a crazy question because Trump WILL leave. I read where he might consider stepping aside after just his first term. He’s already campaigning for re-election. > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Didnt the democrats float this idea of getting Obama on for a third term and the same from Clinton? Of course all the left was cheering on the idea. Bill Clinton talked about how he didn’t really like being limited to two terms. I don’t think the party nor the left cheered it on at all, let alone “all.” (Granted, I was not a Democrat at the time myself. Maybe that idea was more popular within the party.) There’s been idle talk from silly people of running Michelle Obama or putting her on the Supreme Court, but she doesn’t seem to want to stay in DC from what I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/92 "2018-06-17T19:36:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > (bolding mine)So is referring to administrations as “regimes”. We don’t have regimes in America. Rather, we have had one regime for a long time, within which different parties vied for office. And now we seem to be transitioning into another one, in which we have a mobster-in-chief. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/93 "2018-06-17T19:38:01Z")
Oh, also, serving a third term is very, very different from suspending elections, falsifying results, and declaring oneself President for Life. The difference is in accountability. Advocates of term limits seem not to understand the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/94 "2018-06-18T01:32:21Z")
Except here, serving a third term is against the law. It’s just as unconstitutional as declaring yourself “President for Life” and cancelling elections. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/95 "2018-06-18T01:53:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > (bolding mine)So is referring to administrations as “regimes”. We don’t have regimes in America. I’m afraid world opinion on that issue may be shifting against you. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/96 "2018-06-18T02:16:05Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Sorry if this has been covered already, but what if Trump declares Martial Law? > Is there any check against this? > Can he just claim any threat, no matter how ridiculous in support of his declaration? > Is the only counter to this impeachment? The response is: where in the Constitution does the President have authority to declare martial law? Answer: no-where. The US Constitution doesn’t give the President that power, unlike some South American constitutions which, last time I looked, gave their Presidents the power to declare martial law (called a “state of siege” in some cases). So then if the President of the US tries to declare martial law, all the normal checks should come into play. The military should only obey lawful orders. The courts should be open for judicial review to consider if his actions are constitutional. And the Congress should exercise its constitutional authority to check him. Note, however, that there are a lot of “shoulds” there. Democracy and the rule of law are normative systems. Ultimately, they depend on a deep social consensus about those norms. But when you have the leader of the American regime: • praising extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, • brushing off the horrible human rights abuses in North Korea because Kim is a “tough guy”, • musing about how lucky Xi is to be President-for-Life, and • wanting to report back to his Russian handler ASAP, • in a year in which he’s been ripping up accords that help to reduce international tensions, and • dissing his democratic allies, and • the toadies in Congress and his Cabinet are more willing to say nothing but praise for the Dear Leader, akin to Joe Stalin’s henchmen, I’m afraid non-USians are starting to worry that the normative values essential for democracy and the rule of law are being worn down in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/97 "2018-06-18T02:18:14Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Should the economy collapse, I am sure he can convince the same people that it is the fault of others that are just trying to hurt him and america, and that only he can fix it. > > IOW, a failing economy would play more into his hands, not against him. I see your point, but I don’t think it would apply to the situation that I described. The cause and effect relationship between his coup and a collapse of the economy would be obvious to everyone. Yeah, I think Trump’s supporters are deluded fucking morons…but are they that delusional? I mean, there has to be some limit to their delusion, right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_think\_of\_a\_name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed8c4c/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_think\_of\_a\_name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_think_of_a_name)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/98 "2018-06-18T02:57:53Z")
Does anyone seriously think that Trump has enough support to make himself dictator of the USA even if he wanted to? Partisan politics can reach completely ridiculous levels, with people making the wildest claims about whichever politician they are so devout in their hatred of that they’ll believe (or claim to believe) anything bad about them. Campaign against X or else they’ll become a dictator and the country will become ruled by the alien lizard illuminati freemason new world order big oil conspiracy!!!1111!! ---
**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:** [June 18, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/99 "2018-06-18T03:02:28Z")
> [@Malienation](#): > > … > I mean, there has to be some limit to their delusion, right? Right? I’m not sure there is a limit. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172/100 "2018-06-18T05:01:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m not sure there is a limit. In a thread that asks “What if he just declares himself dictator for life?” you’re worried about the delusions of his supporters rather than his opponents? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-trump-doesnt-leave/816172.md?page=6)