# Will Trump leave office peacefully and normally if he loses the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110 "2020-03-08T17:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/21 "2020-03-08T22:27:20Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > **Will Trump leave office peacefully and normally if he loses the election?** > > Yes. If he refuses, he will be escorted out. As fucked as Trump has made the standards and protocols in this country, I refuse to accept that we’re actually in danger of a so-called president that can succeed in refusing to leave. **If dragging by the whatever-that-is-on-the-top-of-his-head is required for some reason** , let me know, I’ll make time. I doubt the tentacles are strong enough. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/22 "2020-03-08T22:49:08Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I look forward to the next installment of “What if Trump tortures dogs on the White House lawn, can anything be done about it?!?!?” thread. If Trump tortured dogs on the White House lawn, would you give a shit? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/23 "2020-03-09T00:05:44Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Pot meet kettle. You have absolutely no evidence Trump will do this. I mean, if by “absolutely no evidence”, you mean “he has already directly said he [wouldn’t accept the results of an election that he loses](https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/302002-trump-jokes-ill-accept-election-results-if-i-win)”, then yes, this is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/24 "2020-03-09T00:06:24Z")
He will throw tantrums but he will leave. Just like the 2 year old he is mentally. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/25 "2020-03-09T00:12:41Z")
I’ve been around for a while, so I first heard this about Nixon. As for trump, he may try to stay but the President elect can just have the phone lines cut and put a sign on the White House reading “DC Jail”. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/26 "2020-03-09T00:15:55Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I mean, if by “absolutely no evidence”, you mean “he has already directly said he [wouldn’t accept the results of an election that he loses](https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/302002-trump-jokes-ill-accept-election-results-if-i-win)”, then yes, this is accurate. Did you read about 3 inches down on your link? > [@](#): > > “I would accept a clear election result but I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result,” Trump told his crowd. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/27 "2020-03-09T00:23:06Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Did you read about 3 inches down on your link? > [@](#): > > “I would accept a clear election result but I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result,” Trump told his crowd. Of course, he will call any result “questionable” that doesn’t have him as the winner . ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/28 "2020-03-09T00:45:01Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > **Will Trump leave office peacefully and normally if he loses the election?** > > Yes. If he refuses, he will be escorted out. When? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/29 "2020-03-09T00:46:46Z")
The chances of Trump accepting defeat, and leaving the White House without some kind of fight, are between slim and none… …and slim just left town. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/30 "2020-03-09T00:58:17Z")
Points of order: > [@UltraVires](#): > > I also heard about how Clinton was different than all former presidents, then Bush was, then Obama was, now Trump definitely is…until he’s not and the next one is the true anti-Christ. Trump is the only one to have “joked” about it himself. The ones on your list just got accused preemptively by crazed detractors. > [@UltraVires](#): > > To others: Trump will claim the election was illegitimate? You mean like Gore? Like Kerry? There was some legitimate doubt around the results in Florida. And I don’t remember Kerry claiming the election was illegitimate. > [@UltraVires](#): > > Plus, didn’t we hear in the lead up to the last election how Trump would refuse to accept these results, only when he won, it was Hillary and posters here refusing to accept the results? The big bad electoral college and mean old James Comey and the misogynistic country? What people said was that Hillary won three million more popular votes than Trump, which is true. I didn’t see anyone “refuse to accept the results.” I saw people complaining that the electoral college system was broken, and lamenting that they had no choice but to accept the results. > [@UltraVires](#): > > I guess I was trying to answer a question and did not realize that this was the 5000th how evil Trump is thread. Please continue. I look forward to the next installment of “What if Trump tortures dogs on the White House lawn, can anything be done about it?!?!?” thread. Trump _ **is** _ fucking evil. All of that said, I don’t think Trump will resist leaving the White House. I do think that he will bitch and moan about it for the rest of his stupid life, which hopefully is very short. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/31 "2020-03-09T01:03:38Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > He will throw tantrums but he will leave. Just like the 2 year old he is mentally. Right, but his tantrum will be a dog-and-pony show for his followers, like everything he does: nothing but optics of self-gratification. His first steps will be to start accusing everyone else of all the soon-to-be exposed crimes and/or misdeeds he has done but which have been kept under wraps by his administration. He’ll be on Fox News or some such all day long, and they’ll continue to provide him with asinine conspiracy ideas which he’ll parrot continually. He’ll file frivolous lawsuits about everything, saying that whoever is now president must be impeached immediately, based on some dumbshit bogus claim that Hannity is peddling. In short, he’ll continue to be a jackass attention whore, and his moron followers will continue to lap up his bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/32 "2020-03-09T01:04:40Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > He will have to be carried out, kicking, screaming and grabbing onto the hand rails, like a whiny little bitch. Then, won’t shut up about it for the rest of his worthless life. Which, I hope, will be spent in courts fighting a litany of charges of corruption and other malfeasance. I just hope someone has the wherewithal to record the event, and in HD. His whackadoo base will deny it’s authentic, but I don’t care; it’ll be for rest of us. I’ll watch it on repeat for years. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/33 "2020-03-09T01:11:25Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Did you read about 3 inches down on your link? Have you paid attention to Trump? He thinks the election he won was questionable, claiming that there was massive voter fraud for why he didn’t win by more. The guy has a track record of claiming fraud, that everything is unfair. The media merely commenting on what he has done is a fraud and should be stopped. COVID-19 was a fraud, because it makes him look bad. His way of spinning any negative attention at all is to tell his supporters that it’s “fake news.” And the guy famously threatens to sue anyone who makes him look bad. But even if he doesn’t sue, I cannot see a version of Trump who doesn’t claim that the election was rigged. He does so when he won, so why wouldn’t he when he lost? Your comparison to past presidents who lacked Trump’s level of narcissism is unconvincing. Anything that treats Trump like “just another president” is unconvincing. Even his supporters recognize that he is a different beast. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/34 "2020-03-09T01:16:34Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I guess I was trying to answer a question and did not realize that this was the 5000th how evil Trump is thread. I know! It’s so unjust, isn’t it? Just because he’s a piece of shit doesn’t mean he’s _evil_! Can’t a president be a piece of shit without all these hysterics? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/35 "2020-03-09T01:43:27Z")
Oh he’ll leave leave without being dragged alright. But unlike past presidents in recent memory, Bush Junior and Senior, Clinton, Obama, who drop out of the limelight and stay fairly quiet about politics, you just know Trump isn’t going to be able to keep his big yapper shut. To be able to sit in a gaudy New York apartment in his underwear and play critic of whomever replaces him is his dream. At the same time re-writing recent history about his time in office as some fantasy of how rosy everything was and how horrible it’s now going to be. A legend in his own mind. And his followers will be there at his feet blindly lapping up the loads of bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/36 "2020-03-09T01:45:06Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > To be able to sit in a gaudy New York apartment in his underwear and play critic of whomever replaces him is his dream. I believe that was his goal in the 2016 election. Unfortunately, he won. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/37 "2020-03-09T02:38:49Z")
So what if Trump doesn’t want to leave? The presidency does not depend on some concept of squatter’s rights in the Oval Office. If Trump loses, then he ceases to be President at noon on January 20, period, full stop. Sure, it could be a little messy. OTOH incoming President Sanders Biden could make things messy for citizen Trump. And the new President has a lot more power to make things messy than the ex-President. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/38 "2020-03-09T02:45:10Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > I just hope someone has the wherewithal to record the event, and in HD. > > His whackadoo base will deny it’s authentic, but I don’t care; it’ll be for rest of us. > > I’ll watch it on repeat for years. Just the concession would be popcorn-popping territory enough. What I would really like to see is if (and there are lots of ifs here) Biden is the candidate and picks Buttigieg to be his veep, and Pence’s reaction to the whole thing, whether they win or not. (Pete won’t be Bernie’s Veep, because those two very obviously despise each other.) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/39 "2020-03-09T03:09:24Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > To others: Trump will claim the election was illegitimate? You mean like Gore? Like Kerry? Neither of them were incumbents. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110/40 "2020-03-09T03:20:09Z")
I’d worry more about how much he can fuck up the government and country with daily executive orders, even more incompetent “acting” department heads and appointees, “national emergency” actions, waves of pardons, and other temper tantrums between election day and inauguration day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-leave-office-peacefully-and-normally-if-he-loses-the-election/849110.md?page=3)