Presidential Debate Foreshadowed American Election Nightmare
If there was any question about Trump’s character and intentions before the first presidential debate in September 2020, it was now clear. Trump is a bully and a threat to our country. From the start of the debate, Trump consistently interrupted Biden to prevent him from answering questions, interrupted and argued with the Moderator, maligned Biden’s children, and refused to disavow white supremacy as he ranted about mail-in ballots and a “rigged election.” Trump’s statement on the group Proud Boys, who, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is known to have associations with violent extremist groups and spouts white nationalist themes, was beyond unsettling. Trump stated that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by.” Even some Republicans feared this is an implied threat. After the debate, Trump claimed he didn’t know about the Proud Boys; like most of Trump’s claims, his denial in this regard was unbelievable. Trump also encouraged his supporters to be “poll watchers,” which is reminiscent of voter intimidation of the past. Trump urging his supporters to serve as “poll watchers” also seemed to be part of a scheme to sow election chaos to legitimize his bogus claim that the voting couldn’t be trusted in a bid to retain presidential power. Trump appeared to be steering America into an election nightmare, which threatened public safety and our democracy. Based on everything that is known, I believe Trump did everything he could to stay in power because he feared he may not be able to pay his massive debts that are coming due within the next few years (according to acquired documents and reporting by the New York Times) as well as being potentially prosecuted for various crimes (see Ponder This… article: Freedom vs Freedumb). Trump could possibly circumvent his creditors and the law if he had been able to retain presidential power.
I believe any objective observer who has closely watched Trump since his election considered Trump a danger to our country. But Trump couldn’t destroy our democracy by himself. He needed help. U.S. Attorney General William Barr appeared poised to use the resources of the Department of Justice to support Trump in any endeavor (see Ponder This…articles Corruption, Complicity and the Department of Injustice and Trump and the Assault on Freedom and the Law). And thus far, I believe Republican lawmakers was complicit by enabling Trump in compromising our democratic safeguards as well as our national security. As such, I don’t consider them patriots or honorable. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a Pennsylvania Republican lawmaker and a state GOP leader suggested a “hypothetical” in appointing Trump electors for the electoral college “if there isn’t a clean count of the popular vote” regardless of the actual popular vote in Pennsylvania.(1)
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Updated January 16, 2020
