Will Trump supporters accept defeat? If he loses, it could get really ugly

[marmar]

Will Trump supporters accept defeat? If he loses, it could get really ugly
Trump's been telling his fans for weeks that there's no way he can lose. So they're primed for a vicious backlash

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
OCTOBER 26, 2020 12:35PM


(Salon) One of the more interesting (and somewhat confounding) polling results in this election cycle has been the belief among members of both parties that Donald Trump will win re-election, regardless of who they're actually planning to vote for. His approval rating has been stuck in the low 40s throughout his term, which is unprecedented, and he's been behind in the polls from the beginning of the campaign. Yet most Americans still remain convinced that he is going to win. This is from Gallup in early October:

Regardless of whom they personally support, 56% of Americans expect Trump to prevail over Biden in the November election, while 40% think Biden will win. Republicans are more likely to believe Trump will win (90%) than Democrats are to think Biden will (73%). Fifty-six percent of independents predict that Trump will win.

How can this be? Well, of course it all depends on what the definition of "win" is.

The explanation for the Democrats and many Independents is obvious. With all of Trump's talk about mail-in voter fraud and lawsuits and promises of intimidation at the polls, they believe it's possible that he will pull out all the stops to create or fake a victory regardless of the legitimate electoral outcome. With his statements to the press that he wants the ninth Supreme Court seat filled in order to ensure a victory, it's not being all that paranoid to assume it could happen.

....(snip)....

What this adds up to is this: if the polls are right and Biden wins the election by a healthy margin, Trump voters almost certainly won't accept the results. Put yourself in their shoes and it isn't that hard. Four years ago, a lot of Hillary Clinton voters felt as if they'd had the wind knocked out of them by that shocking and unexpected result. That's what these Trump voters are going to feel, except that the dissonance will be a thousand times worse. They are expecting a Trump landslide, and have been told by him that the only way he can possibly lose is through fraud on a massive scale.

The difference between then and now, of course, is that Clinton and Barack Obama and every Democratic official immediately accepted the results and their supporters largely agreed voters that Trump had won, at least under the antediluvian constitutional machinery of the Electoral College. There is every reason to think that Trump will do quite the opposite, and I'm afraid there's no reason to believe we can depend upon Republican officials to step up and do the right thing. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/26/will-trump-supporters-accept-defeat-if-he-loses-it-could-get-really-ugly/

[safeinOhio]

1. I'm not making any plans

for next week.

[TwilightZone]

2. I think the threat is overblown.

I think there will be pockets of mayhem (which, frankly, is just about an everyday occurrence anymore) but the talk of some kind of large-scale rebellion or organized chaos seems highly unlikely. Outside of the nuts, the average Trump voter is just like he is, mostly bluster and blather and, ultimately, a coward.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. They've always been ugly

Let them try to get uglier and they’ll be dealt with in the manner they deserved from the start. Personally, I expect noise and bluster but little substance.

[Siwsan]

4. I worry about all of the domestic terrorist groups in Michigan.

I'm in a very blue district and can't help but wonder if that will make our precincts a target area for harassment.

So far I haven't heard of any problems at the ballot drop off boxes.

[marmar]

7. Dana Nessel has pledged that state police will oversee if necessary...

..... I live in the bluest district in the state (Detroit was 95 percent Clinton in '16), and honestly I'm not too worried about these nuts.

[Siwsan]

9. I know the Genesee County Sheriff, Chris Swanson, will be on watch.

He's shown himself to be a very upright, dedicated guy. And, he's a Democrat.

None the less, I'll have my phone at the ready.

[mikeysnot]

5. time to start demanding that the three judges recuse themselves

from any SC opinions on this election. If he can demand that President Obama's judges recuse themselves, so can we.

[Me.]

8. Or It Could Not

Lots of scare scenarios out there, it's becoming click bait

[TwilightZone]

10. Agreed.

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. As long as the counting of votes isn't affected, no reason to engage the Trump tantrumers nt

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Bring it on, cowards.

[DLCWIdem]

13. I got to ask about that Gallup pole

Does it distinguish between afraid Trump will win by nefarious means or just that Trump will win. Because we are all afraid of a 2016 repeat but that doesn't mean we actually think Trump will win.

[Stuart G]

14. The loss will be overwhelming. Yes, they will accept the defeat.

What is to accept if 60 percent vote for Biden. Maybe, 62 percent. Trump's failure on the virus is total and complete, and everyone knows it. It won't get ugly because the number of votes and percentage for Biden will be very high. Since it won't be close, there will be nothing to argue about.

No one will say it was "fixed"..because the results will be so obvious...and that is obvious everywhere....
even Florida. I am also suggesting that the election will be called for Biden by 9pm ET. That is
before the western states have even stopped voting. Why???

...Again, the reason: Trump's total failure to do anything to stop the spread of the virus & everyone knows it.......More than 200,000 dead!

[EnterwebsJohn]

15. A Trump Supprter posted this on his FB Page

?_nc_cat=104&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=34Dvr7MNTOkAX_s02nA&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=0d9d35eb5c76823a05f92a01a8ebd65d&oe=5FD84BA6

A trump supporter - Todd Tirk - Posted this on his FB page.

The Quote:

"Trump didn't make America racist....
He made the racists comfortable enough to show their faces in public."

https://www.facebook.com/todd.tirk.37