From the New Yorker: Trump Is Attacking American Democracy at Its Core.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trump-is-attacking-american-democracy-at-its-core?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_092420&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5df969e7954fcf1853569dd0&cndid=59415923&hasha=e6d99470f2be9f1757ca234d98420b03&hashb=4ad9e8e0e66f39f3aa67c60b0216b8709ae176b1&hashc=eda1a2e8c8a89ffa7bed84dc538fe3993f6ca3351d3bfdea44755e42f843a2c9&esrc=Auto_Subs&mbid=CRMNYR062419&utm_term=TNY_Daily

By John Cassidy

One thing you cannot accuse Donald Trump of is trying to disguise his nefarious intentions. For months now, legal experts and Democratic campaign officials have warned that he may reject the results of this year’s election and pronounce himself the victor regardless of the vote tally. On Tuesday, Trump virtually confirmed that this is his plan. He also indicated that rushing through the appointment of another conservative to the Supreme Court is a key element of his strategy to stay in the White House.

Before Trump flew to Pittsburgh for a super-spreader campaign rally, a pool reporter asked the President how he reacted to Democratic claims that going ahead with the appointment of a new Justice would tear the country apart. “Oh, I don’t think so,” Trump said. “We need nine Justices. You need that. With the unsolicited millions of ballots that they’re sending, it’s a scam; it’s a hoax. Everybody knows that. And the Democrats know it better than anybody else.”

The ballots Trump was referring to are mail-in forms that many states, including key battlegrounds like Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, are using this year to make it easier and safer for people to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. Surveys indicate that Democratic voters are far more likely to use mail-in ballots than are Republicans. Even though Trump himself uses an absentee ballot—a type of mail-in ballot—to vote in Florida, he has been making unfounded accusations for months about the likelihood of large-scale voter fraud. In July, he told Chris Wallace, of Fox News, “I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.”

The President has clearly been laying the groundwork for a legal challenge if the election goes against him, and he’s now confirmed that he expects the Supreme Court to play a key role. In case anybody didn’t get the message from his initial remarks on Tuesday, he repeated it. “So you’re going to need nine Justices up there,” he went on. “I think it’s going to be very important. Because what they’re doing is a hoax, with the ballots. They’re sending out tens of millions of ballots, unsolicited—not where they’re being asked but unsolicited. And that’s a hoax, and you’re going to need to have nine Justices.”

All of it at the link.