# Would Trump be allowed to take office if he wins the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 31, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292 "2016-10-31T19:57:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/141 "2016-11-01T20:39:47Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Have you guys watched the newer \*Battlestar Galactica \*series? A similar issue was raised on that show. You’re not helping your argument any. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/142 "2016-11-01T21:25:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Battlestar Galactica” was not a documentary. Where’s that darn “like” button? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/143 "2016-11-01T21:36:05Z")
As much as I despise Trump, everything he is, and everything he stands for (or in his case doesn’t stand for), I would never support a coup or insurrection IF he wins. That is treason. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/144 "2016-11-01T21:37:59Z")
Here’s the thing. If Trump really were such a widely predicted disaster that a coup is being batted about by the generals, then why wouldn’t Congress be drafting articles of impeachment to go into effect before Trump can even take office? Oh, Congress is supporting Trump in your scenario? Then how the fuck is the coup supposed to succeed? If the people are backing Trump and Congress is backing Trump then how is it that the military is United in opposition to Trump? We actually have several constitutional methods for removing the president from office and if Trump gets elected and is as big a disaster as everyone expects, then we can just use one of those methods, and the elected officials who ousted Trump will then face either the wrath or the applause of the electorate. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/145 "2016-11-01T21:51:37Z")
Oh, Mr. **Slacker** , some day you’ll look back on this thread with renewed insight. Cherish that moment when it happens and use it as an internet prophylactic. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/146 "2016-11-01T22:03:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Battlestar Galactica” was not a documentary. It was not, but the United Nations took it so seriously for its exploration of contemporary political issues that they invited castmembers and writers of the show to come to the UN and do a panel: > **[At The U.N., 'Battlestar' Troops Talk Ethics Of War](https://www.npr.org/2009/03/20/102116629/at-the-u-n-battlestar-troops-talk-ethics-of-war)** > > The acclaimed sci-fi drama grappled with issues that plague real-world leaders. As the show neared its end, cast and producers asked how fiction can offer wisdom on profoundly tough choices. > [@Miller](#): > > Just one of a great number of ways in which you’re limited. Another sick burn! I’m in awe. > [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > It’s never happened in America, but then, we’ve never had Donald Trump as president before. Ding ding ding! Concise and spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/147 "2016-11-01T22:38:27Z")
Is your argument that a coup will happen if Trump is elected, or is it that a coup should happen? I ask, because it seems like it’s shifted from the first to the second. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/148 "2016-11-01T22:40:41Z")
Even if a coup deposed Trump as soon as he took office, it wouldn’t be a good idea. The way to debunk/discredit Trumpism is to let a Trump presidency play out for a few months, in its awfulness, and thus let the public wake to its senses and recognize how bad a Trump presidency is. Then Congress or the Cabinet can boot him out. If you dump him before he even takes office, Trump supporters will forever wax nostalgic about the Trump presidency that never was. _“Trump would have eliminated the national debt!” “Trump would have gotten unemployment down to 2%.” “Trump would have done this or that.”_ ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/149 "2016-11-01T22:47:28Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Is your argument that a coup will happen if Trump is elected, or is it that a coup should happen? I ask, because it seems like it’s shifted from the first to the second. There’s no shift: read the last paragraph of the OP. My argument has always been that it could conceivably happen, and that it wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad thing if it did. All the content-free or content-lite ad hominem preening that has come in the several pages since then has not changed my mind; however, **Velocity** just made a very good and well reasoned point that does make me reconsider somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/150 "2016-11-01T23:09:10Z")
> [@Dob](#): > > America is not a person, or an office. We have survived weak and stupid presidents before and if Trump wins, we would again. Its why we have check and balances in our Constitution. > … > I worry more about what this says to our children tho when we elect a man they have seen be an ass and call people names for over a year now as president. Makes me worried for my daughters… but we would go on and just keep going. Its what I think America does best… we just “keep swimming” 🙂 America–the _idea,_ and the state–is not invulnerable or immortal. It _will_ end someday, for better or for worse. A Trump victory might well be survivable, in itself. But even a Trump loss might be the beginning of the end, if we don’t handle the ramifications well enough. In any case, this story won’t end on November 8, or on January 20. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/151 "2016-11-01T23:52:42Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > There’s no shift: read the last paragraph of the OP. My argument has always been that it could conceivably happen, and that it wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad thing if it did. All the content-free or content-lite ad hominem preening that has come in the several pages since then has not changed my mind; however, **Velocity** just made a very good and well reasoned point that does make me reconsider somewhat. So, I guess my question is, why do you think it would be a good thing? I mean, i get that you don’t like Trump and don’t want to see him as President. I don’t like Trump and don’t particularly want to see him as President either, but why are you hoping for some sort of extra-consstitutional action to remove him, should it come to pass? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/152 "2016-11-02T01:22:45Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > So, I guess my question is, why do you think it would be a good thing? I mean, i get that you don’t like Trump and don’t want to see him as President. I don’t like Trump and don’t particularly want to see him as President either, but why are you hoping for some sort of extra-consstitutional action to remove him, should it come to pass? Andrew Sullivan’s New York Magazine piece from this summer contains the answer, starting with its subhead: “Democracies end when they become too democratic.” > **[America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html)** > > That’s what’s scariest about Donald Trump. > [@](#): > > To call this fascism doesn’t do justice to fascism. Fascism had, in some measure, an ideology and occasional coherence that Trump utterly lacks. But his movement is clearly fascistic in its demonization of foreigners, its hyping of a threat by a domestic minority (Muslims and Mexicans are the new Jews), its focus on a single supreme leader of what can only be called a cult, and its deep belief in violence and coercion in a democracy that has heretofore relied on debate and persuasion. This is the Weimar aspect of our current moment. Just as the English Civil War ended with a dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell, and the French Revolution gave us Napoleon Bonaparte, and the unstable chaos of Russian democracy yielded to Vladimir Putin, and the most recent burst of Egyptian democracy set the conditions for General el-Sisi’s coup, so our paralyzed, emotional hyperdemocracy leads the stumbling, frustrated, angry voter toward the chimerical panacea of Trump.[…] > > Were Trump to win the White House, the defenses against him would be weak. He would likely bring a GOP majority in the House, and Republicans in the Senate would be subjected to almighty popular fury if they stood in his way. The 4-4 stalemate in the Supreme Court would break in Trump’s favor. (In large part, of course, this would be due to the GOP’s unprecedented decision to hold a vacancy open “for the people to decide,” another massive hyperdemocratic breach in our constitutional defenses.) And if Trump’s policies are checked by other branches of government, how might he react? Just look at his response to the rules of the GOP nomination process. He’s not interested in rules. And he barely understands the Constitution. In one revealing moment earlier this year, when asked what he would do if the military refused to obey an illegal order to torture a prisoner, Trump simply insisted that the man would obey: “They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse, believe me.” He later amended his remark, but it speaks volumes about his approach to power. Dick Cheney gave illegal orders to torture prisoners and coerced White House lawyers to cook up absurd “legal” defenses. Trump would make Cheney’s embrace of the dark side and untrammeled executive power look unambitious.[…] > > For Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others. In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It’s long past time we started treating him as such. Extinction level event. That’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/153 "2016-11-02T02:48:36Z")
I’m pretty sure Andrew Sullivan would call you a moron for this OP, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/154 "2016-11-02T02:54:40Z")
So Trump is an extinction level event for our democracy, yet a military coup that literally overthrows a democratically elected President wouldn’t be? It may certainly be the case that if Trump is elected president it means that democracy in America is over. But you couldn’t fix that with a military coup. It’s like trying to cure cancer with a guillotine. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/155 "2016-11-02T04:55:42Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So Trump is an extinction level event for our democracy, yet a military coup that literally overthrows a democratically elected President wouldn’t be? > > It may certainly be the case that if Trump is elected president it means that democracy in America is over. But you couldn’t fix that with a military coup. It’s like trying to cure cancer with a guillotine. Exactly. I’m still trying to figure out how somebody can be smart enough to know electing Trump is a bad idea but dumb enough to think overthrowing democracy is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/156 "2016-11-02T12:14:28Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So Trump is an extinction level event for our democracy, yet a military coup that literally overthrows a democratically elected President wouldn’t be? As people are fond of saying about this election\*, sometimes you have to choose what you think would be the lesser of two evils. YMMV about which is the lesser. \*FTR, I don’t believe Hillary is “evil” at all. I like her and believe she would be a good president. But the previously referenced Andrew Sullivan detests her, yet still believes she is the only thing standing between us and the void. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/157 "2016-11-02T12:32:10Z")
I understand the view that, faced with an apartment building you believe is in imminent danger of collapse, one might choose to limit the damage done by bringing it down with a controlled explosion. The problem, from this analogy’s standpoint, is that either way the building is fully occupied, and thus the least worst course may be to frantically and constantly shore up the building until it can be properly stabilized, even with the risk that it could still fall over, rather than to blow it up thus guaranteeing that the residents will not come out of it well. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/158 "2016-11-02T12:51:41Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I understand the view that, faced with an apartment building you believe is in imminent danger of collapse, one might choose to limit the damage done by bringing it down with a controlled explosion. The problem, from this analogy’s standpoint, is that either way the building is fully occupied, and thus the least worst course may be to frantically and constantly shore up the building until it can be properly stabilized, even with the risk that it could still fall over, rather than to blow it up thus guaranteeing that the residents will not come out of it well. That could be the analogy. But I still keep thinking that if Trump wins, it’s not really Trump himself that’s the problem, but the electorate. If a majority (or near-majority plurality) of American voters make him president, then IMO we don’t deserve democracy: we can’t collectively be trusted with the franchise. “This is why we can’t have nice things!” ETA: As noted upthread, if we’re going to lose democracy either way (and I’m not sure that’s the case), I’d rather have some smart military officers and career bureaucrats in charge instead of Trump and whatever crazies he appoints. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/159 "2016-11-02T13:27:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Or would he be deposed in a Musharraf-style coup? I know this sounds absurd in the context of American democracy, but we can’t assume that things will always stay consistent just because they have in the past. > > …snip… > > And frankly, I would not oppose it. Yes, it’s extraconstitutional. But so would be the threat of letting Trump be commander-in-chief, and the top law-enforcement administrator in the country. I’ve read some brain-dead things on the Dope lately, but this one is right up there at the top. The only objection that I can liberals making about Trump being the top law enforcement guy is that he will remove all obstacles to the investigations into Hillary and she’ll probably wind up in jail. And libs would find that tragic, since they think the sun shines out of her ass. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292/160 "2016-11-02T13:32:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If you dump him before he even takes office, Trump supporters will forever wax nostalgic about the Trump presidency that never was. _“Trump would have eliminated the national debt!” “Trump would have gotten unemployment down to 2%.” “Trump would have done this or that.”_ And the exact same thing will happen when Clinton wins. And the whole mess will be repeated in 4 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-trump-be-allowed-to-take-office-if-he-wins-the-election/770292.md?page=9)