# What's Trump's October Surprise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544 "2020-07-17T03:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**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:** [October 22, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/324 "2020-10-22T17:18:00Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > That isn’t shocking at all. He’s been bragging that after the SC shoots down ACA, he’ll swoop in with his bigger and better healthcare plan that he is keeping a complete mystery so he can have the grand reveal after his re-election. He loves pre-existing conditions! Free bleach for everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/325 "2020-10-22T17:20:22Z")
In what election is Hunter Biden running against Rudy Giuliani? Leaving these irrelevancies aside, I think Trump’s intended October surprise was having Joe Biden arrested for treason on account of the Russian investigation. It seems, so far, that there are things even Bill Barr will not do. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/326 "2020-10-22T22:22:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the case of a Biden victory, Trump is gone and President Pence cedes the reins to Biden on January, 2021. Haven’t people been expecting the Republicans to turn on Trump since the 2016 election results were in? I remember speculation that the Republicans would rapidly impeach Trump to put their man Pence in place, and that certainly didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/327 "2020-10-22T22:24:01Z")
Even an ex-president Trump is going to have a lot of influence in the Republican party. I don’t expect the bootlicking and kowtowing to abate significantly for a long while yet. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/328 "2020-10-22T22:46:27Z")
It’s not a dud at all; this is part of the strategy to discredit the elections. I’ve said it again and again: Russia and this administration have a shared desire to discredit the election results, and this is one part of that strategy - and potent one at that. If Trump loses, this is the perfect cover. “_How can we trust the results?! The freakin’ voting machines were hacked!_” This is _the_ plan. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/329 "2020-10-22T23:29:44Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the case of a Biden victory, Trump is gone and President Pence cedes the reins to Biden on January, 2021. You mean pull a Palin? For Trump, the only thing worse than being called a loser is being called a loser _and_ a quitter. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/330 "2020-10-23T00:09:38Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s not a dud at all; this is part of the strategy to discredit the elections. I’ve said it again and again: Russia and this administration have a shared desire to discredit the election results, and this is one part of that strategy - and potent one at that. > > If Trump loses, this is the perfect cover. “_How can we trust the results?! The freakin’ voting machines were hacked!_” > > This is _the_ plan. Yes, this. ^ All election results are invalidated because Iran/Russia/whatever. As a consequence, Trump must stay in office until ‘we figure out what’s going on.’ Three guesses how long that will take. I realize that news has to be reported. But every minute spent on Ratcliffe’s little time-bomb works to convince the less-well-informed–and folks, there are a LOT of them–that the election results are tainted. From there it’s a hop-and-a-skip to ‘_Trump must stay President until…_.’ Listen to Admiral Ackbar: _it’s a trap_. It really is. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/331 "2020-10-23T00:19:36Z")
Yes, but his value was his voting base. If he loses, he loses that base. I’m not saying he loses his supporters/fans, but as a vehicle for driving votes, he will be spent. And after that, he becomes a liability, with no offsetting political assets. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/332 "2020-10-28T19:25:05Z")
How about a November surprise? Trump declares a new covid national emergency and ‘institutes’ a full and mandatory lockdown for all 50 states. On November 2nd. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/333 "2020-10-28T21:01:38Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > How about a November surprise? Trump declares a new covid national emergency and ‘institutes’ a full and mandatory lockdown for all 50 states. On November 2nd. That only helps him if he simultaneously attempts to postpone the election. Because if you keep people from showing up to the polls to vote in person on November 3rd, that hurts Republican voters more than Democratic voters. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/334 "2020-10-28T21:03:59Z")
Or it would cause so much chaos that the election would be effectively derailed, with legislators and electors clashing. I don’t put anything past this ‘president.’ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/335 "2020-10-28T21:06:39Z")
> [@robby](#): > > That only helps him if he simultaneously attempts to postpone the election. Because if you keep people from showing up to the polls to vote in person on November 3rd, that hurts Republican voters more than Democratic voters. It would, however, throw the election into chaos. Even if you have the state governments pleading to their constituents that they did not delay their elections and that they are the only ones who legally can, you’d still have 20% of conservative and 5% of liberal voters convinced otherwise and would refrain from in-person voting, enough to produce an unpresidented blue wave, which might be preferable to a firm blue wave in that it would be easier to cast aspersions on because it would obviously not jibe with the voting intentions of the electorate. Sort of like how national referendums are sometimes boycotted by one party or another to intentionally produce ridiculous results. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/336 "2020-10-28T21:09:44Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Sort of like how national referendums are sometimes boycotted by one party or another to intentionally produce ridiculous results. I’ve never understood that phenomenon. I suspect that in such cases the side doing the boycotting would likely have lost anyways. If the Republicans want to start the tradition here, more power to them 😜, but I wouldn’t want the Democrats to ever start playing that sort of game. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/337 "2020-10-28T21:17:33Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Trump declares a new covid national emergency and ‘institutes’ a full and mandatory lockdown for all 50 states. On November 2nd. If it happens early enough on the 2nd it may already be stayed by multiple district courts in time for the election. It is a tough case to make that the President has the authority to order mandatory lockdown in general let alone one that prevents voting. Mandtory federal lockdown has come up before. Trump floated the idea earlier in the year. An NPR look at the legality from that earlier proposal - [Fact Check: A Blanket National Quarantine Is Likely Not Legal](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/825293201/a-president-is-not-able-to-order-a-national-quarantine-experts-say) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/338 "2020-10-28T21:20:02Z")
Sadly, it is still Hunter Biden. Over and over and over. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/339 "2020-10-28T22:25:21Z")
They’re simply trying a do-over of the crap they pulled on Hillary in the two weeks before the 2016 election. Trouble is: - They seem to think that Hunter Biden is actually Joe Biden - The story is so full of holes, it’s pathetic. It’s obvious bullshit - Gouliani is an idiot, and everyone knows it - This time, they don’t have a dupe in the FBI to announce an “investigation” - Millions of votes have already been cast ---
**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:** [October 28, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/340 "2020-10-28T22:33:45Z")
Why have an October surprise when you can have a November smackdown? With ACB on the SCOTUS, any GOP-led state whose numbers are even remotely contested might be able to give its electors to Trump, regardless of actual results. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/341 "2020-10-28T22:47:03Z")
His October surprise to his marks in Omaha was: “I hope you like standing out in the cold for hours, waiting for busses to take you back to your cars!” > **[Hundreds stranded in the cold waiting for buses in chaotic post-Trump rally...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/donald-trump-omaha-rally-cold/index.html)** > > When President Donald Trump left Omaha on Tuesday, thousands watched and cheered in the frigid air as Air Force One took off into the night sky. But for these loyal supporters, their experience at the Trump rally was far from over. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/342 "2020-10-28T23:15:31Z")
Upon review, how in the hell does “busses” not have 2 S’s in a row??? CNN, I call bullshit on your spelling!! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/343 "2020-10-28T23:33:44Z")
Busses means cleans tables. 😁 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=18)