vox--2020-11-14--3 scholars say Trump isn’t staging a coup — but he still poses a threat to democracy

It ’ s been a week since President-elect Joe Biden ’ s supporters danced in the streets of cities across the US after every major news organization called the race in his favor .
But their sense of relief at President Donald Trump ’ s loss has been replaced with uncertainty as Trump tries to sow public distrust in the result and overturn it , testing the limits of America ’ s democratic norms and institutions .
Trump has refused to concede , falsely claiming that there was widespread voter fraud and that the election has been “ stolen ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slew of lawsuits challenging election practices in Pennsylvania , Nevada , Arizona , Georgia , and Michigan — all states that the president needed in order to secure a second term , but that Biden ultimately won .
Republicans in the Senate — with the exception of Sens .
Mitt Romney , Susan Collins , Lisa Murkowski , and Ben Sasse — have yet to acknowledge Biden ’ s win .
Some , including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , have emphasized , with carefully chosen language , the president ’ s right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irregularities leading up to mid-December when the states ’ electors formally choose the president .
But others , including Sen. Lindsey Graham , have amplified Trump ’ s false claims of widespread voter fraud .
One senior Republican official told the Washington Post that the party is merely “ humoring ” Trump ’ s bruised ego without seriously contending that the result could change .
Others have argued that it is merely a ploy to preserve their chances at reelection by currying favor with the president ’ s base and to keep Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Georgia that could decide which party controls the chamber .
Trump appeared to acknowledge at least the possibility of defeat Friday during his first press conference since losing the election : “ Who knows what administration it will be ?
” he said .
“ Time will tell.
” But Trump ’ s false rhetoric , and Republicans ’ echoes of it , has real impact : Most Republican voters don ’ t believe that this was a free and fair election despite no evidence to the contrary .
It has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US facing an attempt at a coup d ’ état , and could it be successful ?
Here ’ s what three political scientists who have studied coups in different parts of the world say .
( Their comments are lightly edited for length and clarity . )
Latin America expert Michael Albertus , associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago : I don ’ t think “ coup ” is the right term , but neither is alarm over the situation unwarranted .
A coup typically connotes a violent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military .
Trump is instead trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election to remain in power .
It is closer to what political scientists might call a “ self-coup ” or “ auto-coup ” : an attempt to shut down other institutional checks and balances to the executive .
This term was coined by Alberto Fujimori ’ s shuttering of the Peruvian congress in 1992 , converting him into a dictator .
Another way to put it is simply this : that Trump is trying to steal the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that Trump is seeking to delegitimize elections as a tool for peacefully transferring power .
And he is contributing to greater political polarization in an already-polarized environment .
That is leading to an “ us vs. them ” mentality in which winning becomes more important than respecting the rules of the game , and , in the case of losing , waiting until there is another chance to possibly win .
This degrades popular support for democratic institutions as allocating power .
In doing so , other alternatives — like supporting a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for voters who can ’ t imagine or tolerate the opposition winning .
In the extreme , this can lead to power-grabs and coups , like it did in Argentina with the actions of Juan Perón or in Colombia as liberals and conservatives battled each other in the 1940s and 1950s .
Personally , I don ’ t think we ’ re there yet .
But Trump ’ s actions are bringing us closer .
Latin America is full of examples ... where elected leaders sought to manufacture doubt about election results in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite losing an election .
In 2015 , for instance , the Maduro regime in Venezuela lost parliamentary elections and sought to undermine the outcome as the result of foreign meddling and episodes of fraudulence .
The government later convoked a constituent assembly to supplant the powers of the opposition-dominated parliament and then stacked the assembly with its supporters .
Evo Morales sought to extend presidential term limits through a constitutional referendum in 2016 and barely lost .
He blamed the outcome on domestic and foreign conspiracy against him .
He ultimately accepted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sit for re-election .
Morales then won re-election again in 2019 in an election tainted by accusations of fraud ( this time on the government ’ s part ) .
This ultimately led to his ousting in a coup by the military and political opposition .
Jonathan Powell , associate professor in the School of Politics , Security , and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida : It ’ s completely inaccurate [ to call this a coup ] .
From an academic perspective , if things occur under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t consider it to be a coup .
Militaries and other individuals often try to give some sort of legal justification for what they ’ re doing .
But it ’ s still going to be inherently illegal [ if it ’ s a coup . ]
Things could potentially move in that direction .
I wouldn ’ t expect them to .
I think that it can be a good thing to be concerned about the direction that things could take .
But at this point , however desperate Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t anything that ’ s really necessarily illegal about them .
Elsewhere in the world , contested elections can serve as a very serious trigger that does often prompt coups to be attempted .
I wouldn ’ t expect that to happen here .
But if you look at work from One Earth Future , they find in their models that elections can be incredibly destabilizing when it comes to coups , especially if it looks like an incumbent is losing .
Sometimes it might be the case where an incumbent might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steps in and effectively vetoes what the vote was .
And other times , you might see the opposition come in [ to power ] and then months , or maybe a year or two later , the military comes back in and overthrows the government .
But again , the types of places that this is usually an issue are really not anything like the US .
The types of places that have coups are limited to countries that are incredibly poor , that have really stagnant economies , that are economically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forms of other types of domestic instability , like civil war .
Things like protests can be a red flag , and the US would qualify in that regard .
And a really big thing going to be prior experience with things like coups , and the US just doesn ’ t have any experience with that and the institutions here are very well established .
We can talk about norms being under threat with what Trump is doing .
But in terms of the institutions themselves and the laws themselves , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that these things are under threat .
I think the biggest concern for me is how this distrust in the process could have implications for the future .
Even though it might not be specifically tied to a potential coup right now , it is certainly very alarming for the US ’ s potential to remain a democracy in the future .
That ’ s the kind of thing that could erode public faith in our institutions and potentially the institutions themselves .
The courts are going to be the most important institutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to circumvent legal process , it ’ s going to end up in the hands of the courts .
John Chin , research coordinator for Carnegie Mellon University ’ s Center for International Relations and Politics : Most people talking about a coup in popular discourse and the media typically use it in a fairly colloquial sense , meaning some sort of illegal or bad or undemocratic attempt to seize or maintain power .
What people in this context are really talking about is a self-coup or an “ autogolpe , ” where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results so that he can stay in power and doing it in an unconstitutional , illegal sort of way .
We ’ re not seeing a classic coup , and we ’ re not really seeing a classic autogolpe either because most autogolpes involve fairly sharp , usually sudden attacks on the constitutional order — the president will basically arrest political opposition , suspend the Constitution , dismiss any and all other sorts of political branches that maybe pose potential opposition .
Trump has not done any of those types of moves up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allegations of fraud and he has various legal challenges in different battleground states , as baseless as they may be and however much they sort of violate democratic norms .
But [ he hasn ’ t done ] anything that shows he ’ s clearly trying to stay in power and will go to any length to do so .
So I ’ m relatively sanguine [ about the fact ] that we ’ re not seeing a coup right now .
That is a slightly different question than , “ Should we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next ?
” Anything is possible .
Trump could , in theory , actually attempt an autogolpe between now and January .
The rhetoric would escalate .
We would see massive anti-Trump protests in a reprise of what happened with the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests this summer .
Trump would , of course , try to restore law and order and put down as many of these anti-Trump protests as he could .
But at the moment , I ’ m not sure that Trump really has the support to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minimum , every successful coup needs at least the passive support of the military and security forces more broadly .
It ’ s possible , but I don ’ t see it as particularly likely at this point .
What Trump is doing seems to be more grandstanding , setting up a post-presidency that looks favorable to him or potentially even [ a run again in ] 2024 .
The moves that I ’ m seeing so far don ’ t scream to me a person who is strategically acting to actually ensure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If this were a coup , it ’ d be a very strange one , a slow-motion kind of coup that goes against pretty much what most scholars have observed about coups from time immemorial .

It’s been a week since President-elect Joe Biden’s supporters danced in the streets of cities across the US after every major news organization called the race in his favor. But their sense of relief at President Donald Trump’s loss has been replaced with uncertainty as Trump tries to sow public distrust in the result and overturn it, testing the limits of America’s democratic norms and institutions.
Trump has refused to concede, falsely claiming that there was widespread voter fraud and that the election has been “stolen” from him. He also filed a slew of lawsuits challenging election practices in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan — all states that the president needed in order to secure a second term, but that Biden ultimately won.
Republicans in the Senate — with the exception of Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Ben Sasse — have yet to acknowledge Biden’s win. Some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have emphasized, with carefully chosen language, the president’s right to pursue legal challenges to supposed voting irregularities leading up to mid-December when the states’ electors formally choose the president. But others, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, have amplified Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud.
One senior Republican official told the Washington Post that the party is merely “humoring” Trump’s bruised ego without seriously contending that the result could change. Others have argued that it is merely a ploy to preserve their chances at reelection by currying favor with the president’s base and to keep Republican voters engaged ahead of two Senate runoffs in Georgia that could decide which party controls the chamber.
Trump appeared to acknowledge at least the possibility of defeat Friday during his first press conference since losing the election: “Who knows what administration it will be?” he said. “Time will tell.”
But Trump’s false rhetoric, and Republicans’ echoes of it, has real impact: Most Republican voters don’t believe that this was a free and fair election despite no evidence to the contrary.
It has a lot of Americans wondering: Is the US facing an attempt at a coup d’état, and could it be successful? Here’s what three political scientists who have studied coups in different parts of the world say. (Their comments are lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Latin America expert Michael Albertus, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago:
I don’t think “coup” is the right term, but neither is alarm over the situation unwarranted. A coup typically connotes a violent takeover of government, often by the military. Trump is instead trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election to remain in power. It is closer to what political scientists might call a “self-coup” or “auto-coup”: an attempt to shut down other institutional checks and balances to the executive.
This term was coined by Alberto Fujimori’s shuttering of the Peruvian congress in 1992, converting him into a dictator. Another way to put it is simply this: that Trump is trying to steal the election.
The concern with the present situation is that Trump is seeking to delegitimize elections as a tool for peacefully transferring power. And he is contributing to greater political polarization in an already-polarized environment. That is leading to an “us vs. them” mentality in which winning becomes more important than respecting the rules of the game, and, in the case of losing, waiting until there is another chance to possibly win.
This degrades popular support for democratic institutions as allocating power. In doing so, other alternatives — like supporting a strongman in power — become more attractive for voters who can’t imagine or tolerate the opposition winning. In the extreme, this can lead to power-grabs and coups, like it did in Argentina with the actions of Juan Perón or in Colombia as liberals and conservatives battled each other in the 1940s and 1950s. Personally, I don’t think we’re there yet. But Trump’s actions are bringing us closer.
Latin America is full of examples ... where elected leaders sought to manufacture doubt about election results in order to extend their stay in power despite losing an election. In 2015, for instance, the Maduro regime in Venezuela lost parliamentary elections and sought to undermine the outcome as the result of foreign meddling and episodes of fraudulence. The government later convoked a constituent assembly to supplant the powers of the opposition-dominated parliament and then stacked the assembly with its supporters.
Evo Morales sought to extend presidential term limits through a constitutional referendum in 2016 and barely lost. He blamed the outcome on domestic and foreign conspiracy against him. He ultimately accepted the result and then found another way to sit for re-election. Morales then won re-election again in 2019 in an election tainted by accusations of fraud (this time on the government’s part). This ultimately led to his ousting in a coup by the military and political opposition.
Jonathan Powell, associate professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida:
It’s completely inaccurate [to call this a coup]. From an academic perspective, if things occur under the letter of the law, we wouldn’t consider it to be a coup. Militaries and other individuals often try to give some sort of legal justification for what they’re doing. But it’s still going to be inherently illegal [if it’s a coup.]
Things could potentially move in that direction. I wouldn’t expect them to. I think that it can be a good thing to be concerned about the direction that things could take. But at this point, however desperate Trump’s maneuvers might look, there isn’t anything that’s really necessarily illegal about them.
Elsewhere in the world, contested elections can serve as a very serious trigger that does often prompt coups to be attempted. I wouldn’t expect that to happen here. But if you look at work from One Earth Future, they find in their models that elections can be incredibly destabilizing when it comes to coups, especially if it looks like an incumbent is losing.
Sometimes it might be the case where an incumbent might have lost an election and the military steps in and effectively vetoes what the vote was. And other times, you might see the opposition come in [to power] and then months, or maybe a year or two later, the military comes back in and overthrows the government. But again, the types of places that this is usually an issue are really not anything like the US.
The types of places that have coups are limited to countries that are incredibly poor, that have really stagnant economies, that are economically marginalized, that generally have very serious forms of other types of domestic instability, like civil war. Things like protests can be a red flag, and the US would qualify in that regard. And a really big thing going to be prior experience with things like coups, and the US just doesn’t have any experience with that and the institutions here are very well established. We can talk about norms being under threat with what Trump is doing. But in terms of the institutions themselves and the laws themselves, there isn’t really a sign yet that these things are under threat.
I think the biggest concern for me is how this distrust in the process could have implications for the future. Even though it might not be specifically tied to a potential coup right now, it is certainly very alarming for the US’s potential to remain a democracy in the future. That’s the kind of thing that could erode public faith in our institutions and potentially the institutions themselves. The courts are going to be the most important institutions. Because if a president is attempting to circumvent legal process, it’s going to end up in the hands of the courts.
John Chin, research coordinator for Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for International Relations and Politics:
Most people talking about a coup in popular discourse and the media typically use it in a fairly colloquial sense, meaning some sort of illegal or bad or undemocratic attempt to seize or maintain power.
What people in this context are really talking about is a self-coup or an “autogolpe,” where Trump is trying to undermine the election results so that he can stay in power and doing it in an unconstitutional, illegal sort of way.
We’re not seeing a classic coup, and we’re not really seeing a classic autogolpe either because most autogolpes involve fairly sharp, usually sudden attacks on the constitutional order — the president will basically arrest political opposition, suspend the Constitution, dismiss any and all other sorts of political branches that maybe pose potential opposition.
Trump has not done any of those types of moves up to this point. There have been allegations of fraud and he has various legal challenges in different battleground states, as baseless as they may be and however much they sort of violate democratic norms. But [he hasn’t done] anything that shows he’s clearly trying to stay in power and will go to any length to do so.
So I’m relatively sanguine [about the fact] that we’re not seeing a coup right now. That is a slightly different question than, “Should we be worried about what could still come next?”
Anything is possible. Trump could, in theory, actually attempt an autogolpe between now and January. The rhetoric would escalate. We would see massive anti-Trump protests in a reprise of what happened with the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests this summer. Trump would, of course, try to restore law and order and put down as many of these anti-Trump protests as he could. But at the moment, I’m not sure that Trump really has the support to try to launch an autogolpe. At minimum, every successful coup needs at least the passive support of the military and security forces more broadly. It’s possible, but I don’t see it as particularly likely at this point.
What Trump is doing seems to be more grandstanding, setting up a post-presidency that looks favorable to him or potentially even [a run again in] 2024. The moves that I’m seeing so far don’t scream to me a person who is strategically acting to actually ensure that they stay on as president. If this were a coup, it’d be a very strange one, a slow-motion kind of coup that goes against pretty much what most scholars have observed about coups from time immemorial.


vox--2020-11-14--Study: 40 percent are likely to attend a gathering of more than 10 this holiday season

A new poll conducted by Ohio State University has found that 38 percent of Americans say they are likely to participate in gatherings of more than 10 family members this holiday season , and a third would not ask others to wear masks at holiday gatherings .
The findings , which come as the US is experiencing its third and most widely spread wave of coronavirus infections , suggest that millions of Americans may end up ignoring suggestions from public health experts on how to minimize their risk of transmitting Covid-19 during the upcoming holiday season .
The national survey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , found that while a majority of people do expect to take some mitigation measures as they celebrate during the holidays , a significant percentage are disinclined to .
For instance , 27 percent of respondents indicated that they wouldn ’ t practice social distancing during holiday gatherings , the survey found .
“ We ’ re going to look back at what happened during this holiday season and ask ourselves , ‘ Were we part of the solution or were we part of the problem ?
’ ” said Iahn Gonsenhauser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the university ’ s Wexner Medical Center .
“ When you ’ re gathered together around the table , engaged in conversation , sitting less than six feet apart with your masks down , even in a small group , that ’ s when the spread of this virus can really happen.
” Stopping the spread of the coronavirus is a matter of pressing concern for public health officials — in the United States , daily confirmed cases recently topped 180,000 .
Hospitalization records are being broken , leading to concerns that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients .
And deaths are rising as well , averaging more than 1,000 per day in the past week .
Experts have been warning for months that unless government officials took drastic action — and unless people began to limit their indoor interactions with others — the fall and winter would see terribly high case numbers .
In early October , when case numbers were still below 50,000 per day , Michael Osterholm — director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s coronavirus task force — told Vox ’ s German Lopez , “ The next number in the fall is likely going to shoot way up.
” Back then , Osterholm predicted the daily case numbers would rise above the summer ’ s record , going “ well beyond 65,000 , 70,000.
” Unfortunately , he has been proven right .
To help limit further spread , Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the federal coronavirus task force , has recommended mask-wearing during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — particularly if they involve people coming from regions where there are high rates of coronavirus infections .
“ You get one person who ’ s asymptomatic and infected , and then all of a sudden , four or five people in that gathering are infected , ” Fauci said during an interview in October .
“ To me , that ’ s the exact scenario that you ’ re going to see on Thanksgiving.
” Fauci has said that he won ’ t be getting together with his own daughters this Thanksgiving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rates of infection .
As Vox ’ s Brian Resnick has explained , there are numerous factors that can affect the risk of spread at gatherings like Thanksgiving — for example , whether the celebrations are conducted indoors or outdoors , where there is greater air circulation .
Another factor to consider is whether food will be served — or if guests would be willing to skip the refreshments in order to keep their masks on .
Experts say that creativity is important for making judicious decisions on how to minimize risk as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ One of the ways that we can adapt is to have some flexibility around our traditions and rituals that are really important in our lives , ” Julia Marcus , a Harvard infectious disease epidemiologist , told Resnick .
“ I would encourage people to think outside the box .
”

A new poll conducted by Ohio State University has found that 38 percent of Americans say they are likely to participate in gatherings of more than 10 family members this holiday season, and a third would not ask others to wear masks at holiday gatherings.
The findings, which come as the US is experiencing its third and most widely spread wave of coronavirus infections, suggest that millions of Americans may end up ignoring suggestions from public health experts on how to minimize their risk of transmitting Covid-19 during the upcoming holiday season.
The national survey, which took responses from over 2,000 people, found that while a majority of people do expect to take some mitigation measures as they celebrate during the holidays, a significant percentage are disinclined to.
For instance, 27 percent of respondents indicated that they wouldn’t practice social distancing during holiday gatherings, the survey found.
“We’re going to look back at what happened during this holiday season and ask ourselves, ‘Were we part of the solution or were we part of the problem?’” said Iahn Gonsenhauser, chief quality and patient safety officer at the university’s Wexner Medical Center. “When you’re gathered together around the table, engaged in conversation, sitting less than six feet apart with your masks down, even in a small group, that’s when the spread of this virus can really happen.”
Stopping the spread of the coronavirus is a matter of pressing concern for public health officials — in the United States, daily confirmed cases recently topped 180,000. Hospitalization records are being broken, leading to concerns that hospitals in many states will soon be overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. And deaths are rising as well, averaging more than 1,000 per day in the past week.
Experts have been warning for months that unless government officials took drastic action — and unless people began to limit their indoor interactions with others — the fall and winter would see terribly high case numbers.
In early October, when case numbers were still below 50,000 per day, Michael Osterholm — director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force — told Vox’s German Lopez, “The next number in the fall is likely going to shoot way up.”
Back then, Osterholm predicted the daily case numbers would rise above the summer’s record, going “well beyond 65,000, 70,000.” Unfortunately, he has been proven right.
To help limit further spread, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the federal coronavirus task force, has recommended mask-wearing during holiday gatherings and cautioned against large gatherings — particularly if they involve people coming from regions where there are high rates of coronavirus infections.
“You get one person who’s asymptomatic and infected, and then all of a sudden, four or five people in that gathering are infected,” Fauci said during an interview in October. “To me, that’s the exact scenario that you’re going to see on Thanksgiving.”
Fauci has said that he won’t be getting together with his own daughters this Thanksgiving because they live in regions with high rates of infection.
As Vox’s Brian Resnick has explained, there are numerous factors that can affect the risk of spread at gatherings like Thanksgiving — for example, whether the celebrations are conducted indoors or outdoors, where there is greater air circulation. Another factor to consider is whether food will be served — or if guests would be willing to skip the refreshments in order to keep their masks on.
Experts say that creativity is important for making judicious decisions on how to minimize risk as infection rates surge across the country.
“One of the ways that we can adapt is to have some flexibility around our traditions and rituals that are really important in our lives,” Julia Marcus, a Harvard infectious disease epidemiologist, told Resnick. “I would encourage people to think outside the box.”


vox--2020-11-14--President Trump briefly drove by the “Million MAGA March” on his way to the golf course

Thousands of flag-bearing and camouflaged Trump supporters — including Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys — took to the streets of the nation ’ s capital on Saturday for what has been dubbed the “ Million MAGA March , ” a protest in support of President Donald Trump ’ s false claim that he was cheated out of an election win .
The president , who has yet to concede his loss to President-elect Joe Biden , even made an appearance at the march .
Just after 10 am , Trump ’ s motorcade took a spin down Pennsylvania Avenue , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a throng of fans — most not wearing masks — in Freedom Plaza .
Trump quickly left the protest area , on his way to Trump National Golf Club in the Virginia suburbs .
Several people in the crowd spoke with the Washington Post about the president ’ s appearance .
“ He drove right past me .
I saw him .
He waved right past me , ” one man told the Post .
“ He looked fake , ” another said .
“ I ’ m still shaking.
” The president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protest churning with conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the election .
Earlier this week , Trump called the protests , which were promoted by far-right influencers all week , “ heartwarming.
” Despite Trump ’ s and his supporters ’ claims , President-elect Joe Biden legitimately won the election by a wide margin , a result which will be certified by states on December 8 .
The electoral college will vote on December 14 , and Biden will be installed next year .
But Trump has refused to accept this , launching broadsides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal battle to overturn the results .
Much of the president ’ s supporter base , along with many Republican lawmakers , have thus far refused to accept Biden as the election winner .
The Million MAGA March is an offshoot of a larger “ Stop the Steal ” nationwide protest movement , which incorrectly claims Democrats conspired to steal the election from Republicans .
The president ’ s supporters claim this theft was enacted in a variety of ways , from the Dominion voting machines — which are electronic and were used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Georgia , among others — changing votes in key states , to a mishmash of false or weak claims about election observers being denied access to vote counts in swing state cities .
All of these claims have been rebutted by evidence — and some cases , by judges — but that has not stopped the president and his supporters from continuing to insist he actually won the election .
Saturday ’ s march was an amalgam of several different protests — a “ Stop the Steal ” protest , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Million MAGA March — set to start at Freedom Plaza before a march to the Supreme Court at noon .
Partially organized by Women for America First , which obtained a permit from the city , the protests drew a wide range of far-right groups — even right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was expected to attend .
Ahead of the protests , city residents and officials were on high alert , especially after the white nationalist-organized Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 , during which a counterprotester was killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent high-profile white nationalist rallies — like the Straight Pride March in Boston in 2019 — fizzled out , no one was sure what exactly to expect from the march .
As of Saturday morning , clashes with counterprotesters largely didn ’ t materialize .
One small group of women who led counterprotesters were continuously surrounded by Trump supporters , with both groups shouting and chanting at each other until the counterprotest group was able to cross a police barricade to safety .
While turnout was probably in the thousands , that didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inflating the largely peaceful protest ’ s numbers .
And yet the fact that so many showed up at all shows how successful Trump has been in convincing supporters that there is something amiss with the 2020 results — even if he hasn ’ t been able to convince the courts .

Thousands of flag-bearing and camouflaged Trump supporters — including Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys — took to the streets of the nation’s capital on Saturday for what has been dubbed the “Million MAGA March,” a protest in support of President Donald Trump’s false claim that he was cheated out of an election win.
The president, who has yet to concede his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, even made an appearance at the march. Just after 10 am, Trump’s motorcade took a spin down Pennsylvania Avenue, with the president smiling and waving to a throng of fans — most not wearing masks — in Freedom Plaza. Trump quickly left the protest area, on his way to Trump National Golf Club in the Virginia suburbs.
Trump could’ve delivered a rousing speech to his followers at the Million MAGA March but instead he opted to drive through them so he could play golf. pic.twitter.com/HHH8wQVsyf — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 14, 2020
Several people in the crowd spoke with the Washington Post about the president’s appearance. “He drove right past me. I saw him. He waved right past me,” one man told the Post.
“He looked fake,” another said. “I’m still shaking.”
The president’s visit lends legitimacy to a protest churning with conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the election. Earlier this week, Trump called the protests, which were promoted by far-right influencers all week, “heartwarming.”
Heartwarming to see all of the tremendous support out there, especially the organic Rallies that are springing up all over the Country, including a big one on Saturday in D.C. I may even try to stop by and say hello. This Election was Rigged, from Dominion all the way up & down! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2020
Despite Trump’s and his supporters’ claims, President-elect Joe Biden legitimately won the election by a wide margin, a result which will be certified by states on December 8. The electoral college will vote on December 14, and Biden will be installed next year.
But Trump has refused to accept this, launching broadsides on Twitter, and fighting a losing legal battle to overturn the results. Much of the president’s supporter base, along with many Republican lawmakers, have thus far refused to accept Biden as the election winner.
The Million MAGA March is an offshoot of a larger “Stop the Steal” nationwide protest movement, which incorrectly claims Democrats conspired to steal the election from Republicans. The president’s supporters claim this theft was enacted in a variety of ways, from the Dominion voting machines — which are electronic and were used in many states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, among others — changing votes in key states, to a mishmash of false or weak claims about election observers being denied access to vote counts in swing state cities.
All of these claims have been rebutted by evidence — and some cases, by judges — but that has not stopped the president and his supporters from continuing to insist he actually won the election.
Saturday’s march was an amalgam of several different protests — a “Stop the Steal” protest, a “March for Trump” event, and the Million MAGA March — set to start at Freedom Plaza before a march to the Supreme Court at noon. Partially organized by Women for America First, which obtained a permit from the city, the protests drew a wide range of far-right groups — even right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was expected to attend.
Ahead of the protests, city residents and officials were on high alert, especially after the white nationalist-organized Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, during which a counterprotester was killed. However, considering how many other recent high-profile white nationalist rallies — like the Straight Pride March in Boston in 2019 — fizzled out, no one was sure what exactly to expect from the march.
As of Saturday morning, clashes with counterprotesters largely didn’t materialize. One small group of women who led counterprotesters were continuously surrounded by Trump supporters, with both groups shouting and chanting at each other until the counterprotest group was able to cross a police barricade to safety.
While turnout was probably in the thousands, that didn’t stop the White House from inflating the largely peaceful protest’s numbers.
AMAZING!
More than one MILLION marchers for President @realDonaldTrump descend on the swamp in support.
Best base in political history — we LOVE you guys!!! ❤ pic.twitter.com/vU65nqCSns — Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) November 14, 2020
And yet the fact that so many showed up at all shows how successful Trump has been in convincing supporters that there is something amiss with the 2020 results — even if he hasn’t been able to convince the courts.


vox--2020-11-14--What we know about who Asian American voters supported in the election

Asian Americans — one of the deciding groups in key battleground states this cycle — voted predominately for President-elect Joe Biden , according to early exit polls .
In a CNN survey , 61 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI ) voters backed Biden compared to 34 percent who supported President Donald Trump .
In the critical swing state of Nevada , AAPI voters supported Biden 58 percent to 40 percent .
And in a national election poll fielded by Asian American Decisions , Latino Decisions , and the African American Research Collaborative in the two weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of AAPI voters said they were supporting Biden while 28 percent backed Trump .
While the data from these polls is still quite limited , researchers are confident in the direction of the results .
“ From all of the data that we ’ ve seen , it ’ s safe to say Asian Americans supported Biden over Trump ... backing Democrats at a roughly 2:1 ratio , ” says Karthick Ramakrishnan , a political science professor at the University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data , a group that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is consistent with recent elections — which have seen a majority of AAPI voters support Democratic candidates .
A fraction of the electorate has continued to support Trump , however : This year , he appeared to gain support among Vietnamese Americans and Indian Americans compared to 2016 , according to a survey by AAPI Data .
These numbers speak to the range of ideological and ethnic diversity within the Asian American electorate .
Comprised of more than 15 different ethnicities , AAPI voters ’ alignment with the political parties varies quite significantly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters identifying as unaffiliated .
According to the Asian American Decisions survey , Korean Americans , Japanese Americans , Indian Americans , and Chinese Americans favored Biden by higher margins overall compared to groups including Vietnamese Americans and Filipino Americans .
Ultimately , if Democrats want to keep their edge with AAPI voters , campaigns must continue to invest in meaningful outreach with members of the AAPI community and address their top priorities .
As the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country , AAPI voters are increasingly poised to play a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Senate runoffs in January .
If Democrats are able to build on the support they ’ ve seen , AAPI voters could be among the groups that swing these upcoming Senate races in their favor .
AAPI voters are an extremely diverse group — and foreign policy was a factor for some backing Trump AAPI voters are far from a monolith , and although the majority aligned themselves with Democrats in the presidential election , Trump still picked up roughly a third of the group .
While Trump ’ s poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rhetoric he used to describe the coronavirus as the “ China virus ” and “ kung flu ” — may have been among the factors that pushed some voters away from him , there were others who appreciated how tough his anti-China stance appeared to be .
As Vox ’ s Terry Nguyen has reported , Trump ’ s seeming willingness to confront China resonated with some Vietnamese American voters who recall the country ’ s imperialist efforts in Vietnam .
For a segment of Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans , this same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The issue of anti-communism or anti-China weighs heavily on the minds of the first generation , ” Linda Vo , a professor of Asian American studies at the University of California , Irvine , told Nguyen .
“ They see the GOP as socially conservative and anti-communist , which aligns more with their values.
” Trump ’ s support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who has made anti-Muslim policies a key component of his administration — was an aspect that a segment of Indian Americans viewed positively .
“ Some people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Manjusha Kulkarni , executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council , previously told Vox .
Conversely , Sen. Kamala Harris — who is of Jamaican and Indian descent — boosted enthusiasm for the Biden ticket among members of the South Asian American community who identified with her candidacy .
Misinformation campaigns — some of which were advanced by far-right groups — also flourished on platforms including WeChat and WhatsApp , shaping how voters perceived Biden ’ s policy agenda .
Longer-term outreach is still needed if Democrats want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarter of AAPI voters identifying as independent , according to a 2020 AAPI Data survey , it ’ s evident that Democrats need to maintain longer-term engagement with members of the community if they want to expand the support they saw this year .
That same poll found that 44 percent of AAPI voters identify as Democrats , 23 percent identify as Republicans , and 5 percent don ’ t view politics in terms of party affiliation .
AAPI voters have leaned more toward Democrats over time given the anti-immigration rhetoric that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Since 1996 , when Gov .
[ Pete ] Wilson enacted anti-immigration laws , that ’ s when we saw a shift of Asian American voters from Republicans to Democrats , ” Christine Chen , executive director of APIAVote , previously told Vox .
That year , California ’ s governor signed a statewide executive order that prevented undocumented immigrants from accessing publicly funded services like housing assistance , a move he had previously championed via a ballot initiative called Proposition 187 .
As more people become naturalized citizens each cycle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prime opportunity for both parties , which will have to commit to substantive outreach in order to gain their support .
Every election cycle , thousands of voters are becoming citizens and entering the electorate for the first time ; by building strong relationships with these voters early on , parties could earn their support and loyalty .
“ Democrats have a longer history of investing in the AAPI community , while Republicans have [ increased theirs ] in the last 10 years , ” says Chen .
As President-elect Joe Biden takes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers start a new term in January — Chen notes that they have an opportunity to promote members of the AAPI community in their staff and involve them in key policy conversations .
“ They need to go ahead and make sure they include and engage the AAPI electorate in their discussions , ” she says , emphasizing that campaigns can ’ t just rely on voters when elections come around if they don ’ t include their voices otherwise .
This year , the 2020 AAPI Data poll — which was fielded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about half of AAPI voters hadn ’ t received any contact from either political party .
With strong turnout this year and more voters joining the electorate , it ’ s evident that AAPI voters are a key base that can ’ t be neglected .
The upcoming races in Georgia , too , are yet another opportunity for such outreach .
“ The Asian American and Pacific Islander vote is significant enough that we need to be included in the definition of what it means to be American , ” Ramakrishnan says @

Asian Americans — one of the deciding groups in key battleground states this cycle — voted predominately for President-elect Joe Biden, according to early exit polls.
In a CNN survey, 61 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters backed Biden compared to 34 percent who supported President Donald Trump. In the critical swing state of Nevada, AAPI voters supported Biden 58 percent to 40 percent. And in a national election poll fielded by Asian American Decisions, Latino Decisions, and the African American Research Collaborative in the two weeks leading up to the election, 68 percent of AAPI voters said they were supporting Biden while 28 percent backed Trump.
While the data from these polls is still quite limited, researchers are confident in the direction of the results. “From all of the data that we’ve seen, it’s safe to say Asian Americans supported Biden over Trump ... backing Democrats at a roughly 2:1 ratio,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data, a group that conducts research on voters.
This trend is consistent with recent elections — which have seen a majority of AAPI voters support Democratic candidates. A fraction of the electorate has continued to support Trump, however: This year, he appeared to gain support among Vietnamese Americans and Indian Americans compared to 2016, according to a survey by AAPI Data.
These numbers speak to the range of ideological and ethnic diversity within the Asian American electorate. Comprised of more than 15 different ethnicities, AAPI voters’ alignment with the political parties varies quite significantly, with a high proportion of AAPI voters identifying as unaffiliated. According to the Asian American Decisions survey, Korean Americans, Japanese Americans, Indian Americans, and Chinese Americans favored Biden by higher margins overall compared to groups including Vietnamese Americans and Filipino Americans.
Ultimately, if Democrats want to keep their edge with AAPI voters, campaigns must continue to invest in meaningful outreach with members of the AAPI community and address their top priorities. As the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country, AAPI voters are increasingly poised to play a pivotal role in elections, including Georgia’s Senate runoffs in January. If Democrats are able to build on the support they’ve seen, AAPI voters could be among the groups that swing these upcoming Senate races in their favor.
AAPI voters are an extremely diverse group — and foreign policy was a factor for some backing Trump
AAPI voters are far from a monolith, and although the majority aligned themselves with Democrats in the presidential election, Trump still picked up roughly a third of the group.
While Trump’s poor handling of the pandemic — including racist rhetoric he used to describe the coronavirus as the “China virus” and “kung flu” — may have been among the factors that pushed some voters away from him, there were others who appreciated how tough his anti-China stance appeared to be.
As Vox’s Terry Nguyen has reported, Trump’s seeming willingness to confront China resonated with some Vietnamese American voters who recall the country’s imperialist efforts in Vietnam. For a segment of Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans, this same message also struck a chord.
“The issue of anti-communism or anti-China weighs heavily on the minds of the first generation,” Linda Vo, a professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Irvine, told Nguyen. “They see the GOP as socially conservative and anti-communist, which aligns more with their values.”
Trump’s support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who has made anti-Muslim policies a key component of his administration — was an aspect that a segment of Indian Americans viewed positively. “Some people see Trump as an ally to Modi,” Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, previously told Vox. Conversely, Sen. Kamala Harris — who is of Jamaican and Indian descent — boosted enthusiasm for the Biden ticket among members of the South Asian American community who identified with her candidacy.
Misinformation campaigns — some of which were advanced by far-right groups — also flourished on platforms including WeChat and WhatsApp, shaping how voters perceived Biden’s policy agenda.
Longer-term outreach is still needed if Democrats want to win over AAPI voters
With a quarter of AAPI voters identifying as independent, according to a 2020 AAPI Data survey, it’s evident that Democrats need to maintain longer-term engagement with members of the community if they want to expand the support they saw this year. That same poll found that 44 percent of AAPI voters identify as Democrats, 23 percent identify as Republicans, and 5 percent don’t view politics in terms of party affiliation.
AAPI voters have leaned more toward Democrats over time given the anti-immigration rhetoric that’s been promoted by the Republican Party. “Since 1996, when Gov. [Pete] Wilson enacted anti-immigration laws, that’s when we saw a shift of Asian American voters from Republicans to Democrats,” Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote, previously told Vox. That year, California’s governor signed a statewide executive order that prevented undocumented immigrants from accessing publicly funded services like housing assistance, a move he had previously championed via a ballot initiative called Proposition 187.
As more people become naturalized citizens each cycle, these new voters are also a prime opportunity for both parties, which will have to commit to substantive outreach in order to gain their support. Every election cycle, thousands of voters are becoming citizens and entering the electorate for the first time; by building strong relationships with these voters early on, parties could earn their support and loyalty.
“Democrats have a longer history of investing in the AAPI community, while Republicans have [increased theirs] in the last 10 years,” says Chen. As President-elect Joe Biden takes over the White House — and congressional lawmakers start a new term in January — Chen notes that they have an opportunity to promote members of the AAPI community in their staff and involve them in key policy conversations.
“They need to go ahead and make sure they include and engage the AAPI electorate in their discussions,” she says, emphasizing that campaigns can’t just rely on voters when elections come around if they don’t include their voices otherwise.
This year, the 2020 AAPI Data poll — which was fielded in August and September — found that about half of AAPI voters hadn’t received any contact from either political party. With strong turnout this year and more voters joining the electorate, it’s evident that AAPI voters are a key base that can’t be neglected. The upcoming races in Georgia, too, are yet another opportunity for such outreach.
“The Asian American and Pacific Islander vote is significant enough that we need to be included in the definition of what it means to be American,” Ramakrishnan says.


vox--2020-11-14--Trump’s far-fetched legal campaign to question the election seems to be falling apart

President Donald Trump ’ s efforts to question the results of the 2020 presidential election using legal challenges have taken several major blows , with many lawsuits rejected or abandoned in key states , and prominent law firms withdrawing support for the president .
On Friday , Trump lawsuits suffered setbacks in three battleground states — all of which have been declared for President-elect Joe Biden .
In Michigan , a state judge rejected a Republican request to halt the certification of the vote in Wayne County — where Detroit sits — as “ unwieldy , ” according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also alleged a variety of inappropriate conduct at polling stations , charges the judge dismissed as unspecific in some cases , and as “ rife with speculation and guesswork ” in others .
In Arizona , the Trump campaign abandoned a lawsuit alleging that ballots marked for Trump with felt-tipped markers had been unfairly thrown out — which was inspired by a false rumor — after determining that the number of votes at stake were too small to be meaningful , according to the Times .
And in Pennsylvania , a judge rejected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to block the counting of nearly 9,000 mail ballots in two counties .
The campaign had requested that those ballots be discounted because they were missing some requested information , like addresses or dates on outer envelopes , according to the Washington Post .
Even if the ballots had been thrown out , however , the outcome in the state would have remained the same : Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 60,000 votes .
Trump ’ s campaign has also been abandoned by key members of its legal team .
Porter Wright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few prominent law firms to represent Trump ’ s legal efforts to question election results , withdrew from the federal lawsuit it had filed for the Trump campaign that attempted to alter the election ’ s results in Pennsylvania on Thursday — just days after filing the case .
Also on Friday , according to the New York Times , a high level employee at Jones Day , one the largest law firms in the US , announced during an internal meeting that the firm would not be involving itself in election litigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ served as counsel to Trump ’ s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns .
Both firms were targeted on social media by the Lincoln Project , an advocacy outfit run by Republicans who oppose Trump .
According to the Times , some lawyers at both firms had voiced discomfort or resigned in objection to their firms ’ involvement with the Trump campaign both in the run-up to and in the aftermath of the election .
The news was met with pointed criticism by the Trump campaign .
“ Cancel culture has finally reached the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump campaign ’ s communications director , said in a statement in response to the news of Porter Wright ’ s withdrawal .
“ Leftist mobs descended upon some of the lawyers representing the president ’ s campaign and they buckled.
” These defections and losses are merely among the latest setbacks to Trump ’ s efforts to overturn the results of the election through the courts .
The Trump campaign and its allies have been filing a dizzying array of lawsuits — so many that , according to Politico , there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been submitted .
What is clear , however , is that Trump has a losing record : The campaign has won only one case and lost 15 .
And that win — a ruling that Pennsylvania mail-in voters who failed to provide identification on or before November 9 will have their ballots discarded — won ’ t affect the current vote count .
The minor number of ballots that will be affected had not yet been counted .
Giuliani ’ s takeover suggests things are going to be messy As the president ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ begun to fall apart , Trump has put his personal lawyer , Rudolph Giuliani , in charge of his campaign lawsuits — a move that has distressed many of the president ’ s advisers , who see it as intensifying the chaos behind the president ’ s attempts to cling to power .
Trump appointed Giuliani to take over his legal campaign after news came out on Friday that his campaign was dropping its Arizona lawsuit .
Analysts say that the president ’ s decision to make one of his most polarizing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal campaign just as it seems to be buckling suggests that he ’ s leaning into making litigation even more of an optics game .
“ Mr .
Trump has been trying every possible option to change the outcome and trying to get what he sees as ‘ fighters ’ making his case , often conflating a media strategy with a legal one , ” the New York Times ’ s Maggie Haberman explained in her report on Giuliani ’ s new position .
According to Politico , top Trump campaign aides and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s role in the president ’ s legal challenges — and fear that his incendiary and reckless style will hurt their plans for carefully orchestrated legal battles .
Recently , Giuliani has made more sweeping claims than the Trump campaign has been willing to indulge , and has circumvented agreed-upon strategies when talking to the media .
And Giuliani reportedly offers the president more optimistic takes on the odds of existing lawsuits than many other advisers .
According to the Times , Trump put Giuliani on speakerphone during a meeting with his aides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for not telling the president the truth about his chances of winning in court .
Frustrated with this sort of behavior , the campaign reportedly plans on pursuing its own legal strategy separately from Giuliani ’ s efforts .
All told , these developments reflect what appears to be a collapsing legal machine , in which Trump is exhausting his options to effectively use lawsuits to question ballot counting procedures — an endeavor which had always been unlikely to alter the outcome of the election in the first place .

President Donald Trump’s efforts to question the results of the 2020 presidential election using legal challenges have taken several major blows, with many lawsuits rejected or abandoned in key states, and prominent law firms withdrawing support for the president.
On Friday, Trump lawsuits suffered setbacks in three battleground states — all of which have been declared for President-elect Joe Biden.
In Michigan, a state judge rejected a Republican request to halt the certification of the vote in Wayne County — where Detroit sits — as “unwieldy,” according to the New York Times. The GOP had also alleged a variety of inappropriate conduct at polling stations, charges the judge dismissed as unspecific in some cases, and as “rife with speculation and guesswork” in others.
In Arizona, the Trump campaign abandoned a lawsuit alleging that ballots marked for Trump with felt-tipped markers had been unfairly thrown out — which was inspired by a false rumor — after determining that the number of votes at stake were too small to be meaningful, according to the Times.
And in Pennsylvania, a judge rejected six separate efforts by the Trump campaign to block the counting of nearly 9,000 mail ballots in two counties. The campaign had requested that those ballots be discounted because they were missing some requested information, like addresses or dates on outer envelopes, according to the Washington Post. Even if the ballots had been thrown out, however, the outcome in the state would have remained the same: Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 60,000 votes.
Trump’s campaign has also been abandoned by key members of its legal team. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, one of the few prominent law firms to represent Trump’s legal efforts to question election results, withdrew from the federal lawsuit it had filed for the Trump campaign that attempted to alter the election’s results in Pennsylvania on Thursday — just days after filing the case.
Also on Friday, according to the New York Times, a high level employee at Jones Day, one the largest law firms in the US, announced during an internal meeting that the firm would not be involving itself in election litigation, despite the fact that Jones Day served as counsel to Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Both firms were targeted on social media by the Lincoln Project, an advocacy outfit run by Republicans who oppose Trump. According to the Times, some lawyers at both firms had voiced discomfort or resigned in objection to their firms’ involvement with the Trump campaign both in the run-up to and in the aftermath of the election. The news was met with pointed criticism by the Trump campaign.
“Cancel culture has finally reached the courtroom,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a statement in response to the news of Porter Wright’s withdrawal. “Leftist mobs descended upon some of the lawyers representing the president’s campaign and they buckled.”
These defections and losses are merely among the latest setbacks to Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the election through the courts. The Trump campaign and its allies have been filing a dizzying array of lawsuits — so many that, according to Politico, there is no accurate count of how many have been submitted. What is clear, however, is that Trump has a losing record: The campaign has won only one case and lost 15.
And that win — a ruling that Pennsylvania mail-in voters who failed to provide identification on or before November 9 will have their ballots discarded — won’t affect the current vote count. The minor number of ballots that will be affected had not yet been counted.
Giuliani’s takeover suggests things are going to be messy
As the president’s haphazard, throw-stuff-against-the-wall legal strategy has begun to fall apart, Trump has put his personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, in charge of his campaign lawsuits — a move that has distressed many of the president’s advisers, who see it as intensifying the chaos behind the president’s attempts to cling to power.
Trump appointed Giuliani to take over his legal campaign after news came out on Friday that his campaign was dropping its Arizona lawsuit.
Analysts say that the president’s decision to make one of his most polarizing and bombastic surrogates the new coordinator for his legal campaign just as it seems to be buckling suggests that he’s leaning into making litigation even more of an optics game.
“Mr. Trump has been trying every possible option to change the outcome and trying to get what he sees as ‘fighters’ making his case, often conflating a media strategy with a legal one,” the New York Times’s Maggie Haberman explained in her report on Giuliani’s new position.
According to Politico, top Trump campaign aides and advisers have been frustrated with Giuliani’s role in the president’s legal challenges — and fear that his incendiary and reckless style will hurt their plans for carefully orchestrated legal battles. Recently, Giuliani has made more sweeping claims than the Trump campaign has been willing to indulge, and has circumvented agreed-upon strategies when talking to the media.
And Giuliani reportedly offers the president more optimistic takes on the odds of existing lawsuits than many other advisers. According to the Times, Trump put Giuliani on speakerphone during a meeting with his aides on Thursday, and Giuliani scolded them for not telling the president the truth about his chances of winning in court.
Frustrated with this sort of behavior, the campaign reportedly plans on pursuing its own legal strategy separately from Giuliani’s efforts.
All told, these developments reflect what appears to be a collapsing legal machine, in which Trump is exhausting his options to effectively use lawsuits to question ballot counting procedures — an endeavor which had always been unlikely to alter the outcome of the election in the first place.


vox--2020-11-13--Police reform was a big winner this election

In the weeks after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis , calls to defund the police could be seen on protesters ’ signs , read in etchings on sidewalks , and heard in chants in America ’ s streets .
The demand , generally , was to move money from massive police budgets to social services and other local agencies , diminishing the role of police .
The goal was to end the racist and violent policing of Black people .
The Minneapolis City Council , seeing how Floyd ’ s death had moved the country , took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defund their department .
Meanwhile , the mounting pressure pushed elected officials in states like New York , Massachusetts , and Colorado not to slash police budgets but to pass reform legislation , including chokehold bans , training commissions , and body camera requirements .
But many of those initial moves in cities and states across the country eventually stalled .
For example , five months later , the battle over funding continues in Minneapolis .
And while media coverage of protests also dwindled as summer turned to fall , local activists kept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the protests erupted — to get police reform and defunding initiatives on the ballot .
Their efforts , coupled with the momentum of the protests , seem to have paid off .
Despite being a contentious issue across party lines , voters last week in cities in six states overwhelmingly approved 18 of these ballot measures , including creating and improving police oversight boards , changing police department staffing and funding , and requiring public access to police body and dashboard camera recordings .
While most of these measures are a step toward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms of reimagining policing .
Many are standards already implemented in other cities — and a bare minimum for police accountability , activists say .
On one hand , these wins prompt questions of what ’ s next , stirring the debate on what to do about the broken institution of policing — whether to keep fighting for the incremental change of reform or to work toward dismantling the entire system through defunding or even abolishment .
On the other , that voters got behind so many measures at all shows a possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to be done about police violence and accountability .
Rev .
Mark Kelly Tyler , the co-director of Power Live Free , an interfaith activism group that focuses on criminal justice issues in Philadelphia , said the ballot approvals , including a citizens oversight committee in his city , are just the first step in the fight for how policing should be in America .
“ For me , it ’ s about the kind of world we want to leave behind and how policing would look 10 to 20 years from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s a marathon , not a sprint.
” While some cities and states started passing police accountability legislation this summer , others followed suit through citizen votes .
In California , seven local ballot initiatives passed as a result of last week ’ s elections .
The most progressive ballot initiative was Los Angeles County ’ s Measure J , also known as “ Reimagine LA County , ” which would amend the county ’ s charter and require 10 percent of the city ’ s unrestricted general funds to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and services , and other alternatives to incarceration instead of prisons and policing .
Although Measure J is effectively a move to defund the police ( county chief executive Fesia Davenport said the $ 2 billion Sheriff ’ s Department budget would likely be impacted ) , the initiative didn ’ t use “ defund ” language .
As Roge Karma reported for Vox , the campaign ’ s messaging has focused almost entirely on the benefits of increased investment in underserved Black and brown communities .
This may be a response to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the term “ defunding ” even if they are into the core idea behind it — shifting police funds to social services .
“ The passage of Measure J sets a new precedent for the nation on how to invest in care and opportunity as a means of solving social problems , instead of continuing to grow our carceral system , which has only exacerbated the root causes of inequity , ” Isaac Bryan , co-chair of the Reimagine LA Coalition , told Vox .
But the police accountability measures that passed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have anything to do with defunding .
One of the most popular measures voters approved in cities around the country was creating civilian oversight committees , which would essentially investigate citizen complaints of police and police misconduct .
For decades , Portland activists have been pushing for sweeping legislation on police reform due to the police bureau ’ s history of abusing and killing the city ’ s Black residents .
( In 2019 , criminal justice activists advocated and passed a bill that would protect Black youth .
Also that year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which stalled . )
So when Measure 26-217 — which would overhaul Portland ’ s police oversight system and create a new commission of civilian volunteers who could investigate misconduct and allegations against the police — got on the ballot after a long summer of protests and clashes with police in the city , activists fought to pass it .
They rallied outside city hall and the police bureau .
They gave presentations to elected officials .
And it worked .
The ballot measure passed with more than 80 percent of votes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not surprised , ” Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty , the key architect of Portland ’ s recent police reform initiatives including Measure 26-217 , said during a press conference on election night .
“ I expected that we would have overwhelming support , but 80 percent sends a very strong message that the community is ready for a transformation when it comes to policing.
” Voters passed similar oversight board measures in the California cities of San Diego and San Jose , as well as Sonoma County .
So did voters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seattle — where Black Lives Matter protesters created an “ autonomous zone ” free from the police — as well as those in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia , which had seen protests leading up to the election over the police shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr .
Even cities in red states like Columbus , Ohio , and Kyle , Texas ( roughly 20 miles south of Austin ) , voted in favor of oversight boards .
All this support marks a shift in how Americans are thinking about policing after Floyd ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence and systemic racism .
For many organizers , though , it ’ s been a work long in progress .
Since last year , Rev .
Tyler ’ s organization had been developing a list of demands for the Philadelphia City Council to put an end to police brutality , gun violence , and mass incarceration .
It wasn ’ t until after Floyd ’ s death , when the city was looking for a quick win to address the national upheaval , that city officials started to take them seriously .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ series of virtual town halls with police oversight experts to brainstorm ideas on how a civilian oversight board should work .
Tyler said that members of the oversight commission should be elected by the people , much like a school board , instead of appointed by the city council .
He also wants to see the oversight commission have full power over police policy and strategies , including where budgets should be allocated .
” We think the commission should have full power over police policy and police directives , along with having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department , ” he said .
“ We need to take the politics out of it .
This body should oversee how that budget is allocated and spent.
” Tyler also praised cities like Oakland and San Francisco , which are already expanding the power of their civilian oversight boards .
Oakland , for instance , already established an oversight commission four years ago .
But the city just voted to not only strengthen the commission ’ s powers but also make the commission independent — meaning it would sever ties from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of command .
Activists say the move would increase police accountability and public trust .
Other policing measures that voters approved in the recent election : slashing mandatory police staffing levels in San Francisco ; using body and dashboard camera recordings to document police use of force in Akron Ohio ; and symbolically codifying “ stop and frisk ” policing in Philadelphia — though its passage doesn ’ t entirely eradicate the practice .
In other words , these are all small steps in shifting police accountability .
Oluchi Omeoga — co-founder and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Minneapolis , one of the groups behind the push to defund the city ’ s police — said that some of these police reform ballot initiatives don ’ t exactly limit or lessen the power of the police and that defunding is the way forward .
“ The system of policing , if you look at our country ’ s history , is working the way it ’ s supposed to , since it was created at a time when we abolished slavery , ” said Omeoga .
“ When we think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reform because the system is working exactly the way it ’ s supposed to .
So the two strategies that I see is either the reformation of existing structures that we have or the complete abolition and restructure of a new community safety.
” “ We have a long way to go ” Even among these recent wins , pushback has already begun .
The Portland Police Association filed a grievance against the city arguing that Measure 26-217 should have been negotiated with the union before the ballot measure went to voters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is asking other law enforcement agencies and city council for more funding to expand staffing , since many police officers went on leave .
Bryan said that Reimagine LA , along with other grassroots organizations , will make sure election officials keep their pledge by tracking where the money will be spent in terms of improving communities .
“ As long as we continue to see lethal encounters with law enforcement on our phones and TVs , I believe voters will continue to call for more direct measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Bryan .
“ Measure J is a powerful example , but I don ’ t believe it will be the last .
There ’ s still a lot of work to do.
” Abdirahim Mohamoud , a 17-year-old Black student activist who lives in a predominantly white neighborhood about 10 miles southwest of Portland , said people should pay attention to the same challenges of racism and police violence — as well as grassroots actions — that are also occurring in suburban areas .
He also worries the fight for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election is over and a Democrat will take the highest seat in the nation .
“ I have a really big fear that because these ballots passed , people are going to stop caring , stop being active with their voices , ” said Mohamoud .
“ The lack of momentum from other people is probably going to be the downfall of it , because this is not something that only a few [ people ] can do or I , by myself can do , it ’ s a group effort.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ uses the word “ defunding ” out loud , since the term has been “ so politicized ” — as a means to rile up their base , Republicans have often made false claims that Democratic leaders like President-elect Joe Biden are in favor of defunding the police .
One of the only ballot measures that was a loss for police accountability this election cycle was about budgeting : In DuPage County , Illinois , voters overwhelmingly voted to continue financial support of law enforcement and public safety as its “ top budgeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that defunding isn ’ t a view , but rather a tactic in reenvisioning policing in communities .
That includes diverting money from the police and reinvesting it in communities , changing the way people use 911 calls when addressing car accidents or mental health crises , and implementing a robust policing education that would improve relationships across communities .
“ Believe it or not , we have tried to reform policing for the last at least 200 years , and nothing has actually been fixed because it ’ s not exactly broken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will say we understand that this system of policing is in the interest of capitalism and white supremacy , so the tactic is defunding the police to take our reliance away from the police and turning it into new systems of community accountability and safety that isn ’ t relying on the state.
” For Tyler , reforming the police creates an avenue toward defunding .
He expects more police reform initiatives to emerge in upcoming ballots as city leaders learn from each other .
Some of the measures he expects to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measures such as the oversight commission having the ability to hire and fire the police chief .
“ This is a long haul and an ongoing national conversation , ” said Tyler .
“ It ’ s really about the citizens taking control over police departments because the police have proven themselves incapable of policing themselves .
I ’ m happy that the first step is done , but this is a multi-year fight , not a one-campaign fight .
We have a long way to go .
”

In the weeks after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, calls to defund the police could be seen on protesters’ signs, read in etchings on sidewalks, and heard in chants in America’s streets. The demand, generally, was to move money from massive police budgets to social services and other local agencies, diminishing the role of police. The goal was to end the racist and violent policing of Black people.
The Minneapolis City Council, seeing how Floyd’s death had moved the country, took this to heart, immediately pledging to defund their department. Meanwhile, the mounting pressure pushed elected officials in states like New York, Massachusetts, and Colorado not to slash police budgets but to pass reform legislation, including chokehold bans, training commissions, and body camera requirements.
But many of those initial moves in cities and states across the country eventually stalled. For example, five months later, the battle over funding continues in Minneapolis.
And while media coverage of protests also dwindled as summer turned to fall, local activists kept pushing — much like they had before the protests erupted — to get police reform and defunding initiatives on the ballot. Their efforts, coupled with the momentum of the protests, seem to have paid off.
Despite being a contentious issue across party lines, voters last week in cities in six states overwhelmingly approved 18 of these ballot measures, including creating and improving police oversight boards, changing police department staffing and funding, and requiring public access to police body and dashboard camera recordings. While most of these measures are a step toward reform, almost none are radical in terms of reimagining policing. Many are standards already implemented in other cities — and a bare minimum for police accountability, activists say.
On one hand, these wins prompt questions of what’s next, stirring the debate on what to do about the broken institution of policing — whether to keep fighting for the incremental change of reform or to work toward dismantling the entire system through defunding or even abolishment. On the other, that voters got behind so many measures at all shows a possible tide shift; Americans are recognizing something needs to be done about police violence and accountability.
Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, the co-director of Power Live Free, an interfaith activism group that focuses on criminal justice issues in Philadelphia, said the ballot approvals, including a citizens oversight committee in his city, are just the first step in the fight for how policing should be in America.
“For me, it’s about the kind of world we want to leave behind and how policing would look 10 to 20 years from now,” he said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
What the approved police reform ballot measures entail
While some cities and states started passing police accountability legislation this summer, others followed suit through citizen votes. In California, seven local ballot initiatives passed as a result of last week’s elections. The most progressive ballot initiative was Los Angeles County’s Measure J, also known as “Reimagine LA County,” which would amend the county’s charter and require 10 percent of the city’s unrestricted general funds to be invested in housing, mental health programs and services, and other alternatives to incarceration instead of prisons and policing.
Although Measure J is effectively a move to defund the police (county chief executive Fesia Davenport said the $2 billion Sheriff’s Department budget would likely be impacted), the initiative didn’t use “defund” language. As Roge Karma reported for Vox, the campaign’s messaging has focused almost entirely on the benefits of increased investment in underserved Black and brown communities. This may be a response to polling that suggests people are turned off by the term “defunding” even if they are into the core idea behind it — shifting police funds to social services.
“The passage of Measure J sets a new precedent for the nation on how to invest in care and opportunity as a means of solving social problems, instead of continuing to grow our carceral system, which has only exacerbated the root causes of inequity,” Isaac Bryan, co-chair of the Reimagine LA Coalition, told Vox.
But the police accountability measures that passed in other cities don’t exactly have anything to do with defunding. One of the most popular measures voters approved in cities around the country was creating civilian oversight committees, which would essentially investigate citizen complaints of police and police misconduct.
For decades, Portland activists have been pushing for sweeping legislation on police reform due to the police bureau’s history of abusing and killing the city’s Black residents. (In 2019, criminal justice activists advocated and passed a bill that would protect Black youth. Also that year, activists fought to increase police accountability, which stalled.) So when Measure 26-217 — which would overhaul Portland’s police oversight system and create a new commission of civilian volunteers who could investigate misconduct and allegations against the police — got on the ballot after a long summer of protests and clashes with police in the city, activists fought to pass it. They rallied outside city hall and the police bureau. They gave presentations to elected officials. And it worked. The ballot measure passed with more than 80 percent of votes.
“I will say I’m not surprised,” Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the key architect of Portland’s recent police reform initiatives including Measure 26-217, said during a press conference on election night. “I expected that we would have overwhelming support, but 80 percent sends a very strong message that the community is ready for a transformation when it comes to policing.”
Voters passed similar oversight board measures in the California cities of San Diego and San Jose, as well as Sonoma County. So did voters in King County, Washington, home to Seattle — where Black Lives Matter protesters created an “autonomous zone” free from the police — as well as those in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, which had seen protests leading up to the election over the police shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr. Even cities in red states like Columbus, Ohio, and Kyle, Texas (roughly 20 miles south of Austin), voted in favor of oversight boards.
All this support marks a shift in how Americans are thinking about policing after Floyd’s death sparked a national conversation on police violence and systemic racism. For many organizers, though, it’s been a work long in progress.
Since last year, Rev. Tyler’s organization had been developing a list of demands for the Philadelphia City Council to put an end to police brutality, gun violence, and mass incarceration. It wasn’t until after Floyd’s death, when the city was looking for a quick win to address the national upheaval, that city officials started to take them seriously.
In July, Tyler began hosting a series of virtual town halls with police oversight experts to brainstorm ideas on how a civilian oversight board should work. Tyler said that members of the oversight commission should be elected by the people, much like a school board, instead of appointed by the city council. He also wants to see the oversight commission have full power over police policy and strategies, including where budgets should be allocated.
”We think the commission should have full power over police policy and police directives, along with having control of the budgets for the police department,” he said. “We need to take the politics out of it. This body should oversee how that budget is allocated and spent.”
Tyler also praised cities like Oakland and San Francisco, which are already expanding the power of their civilian oversight boards. Oakland, for instance, already established an oversight commission four years ago. But the city just voted to not only strengthen the commission’s powers but also make the commission independent — meaning it would sever ties from the city and police department’s chain of command. Activists say the move would increase police accountability and public trust.
Other policing measures that voters approved in the recent election: slashing mandatory police staffing levels in San Francisco; using body and dashboard camera recordings to document police use of force in Akron Ohio; and symbolically codifying “stop and frisk” policing in Philadelphia — though its passage doesn’t entirely eradicate the practice. In other words, these are all small steps in shifting police accountability.
Oluchi Omeoga — co-founder and core team member of Black Visions Collective in Minneapolis, one of the groups behind the push to defund the city’s police — said that some of these police reform ballot initiatives don’t exactly limit or lessen the power of the police and that defunding is the way forward.
“The system of policing, if you look at our country’s history, is working the way it’s supposed to, since it was created at a time when we abolished slavery,” said Omeoga. “When we think about reform, there’s no reform because the system is working exactly the way it’s supposed to. So the two strategies that I see is either the reformation of existing structures that we have or the complete abolition and restructure of a new community safety.”
“We have a long way to go”
Even among these recent wins, pushback has already begun. The Portland Police Association filed a grievance against the city arguing that Measure 26-217 should have been negotiated with the union before the ballot measure went to voters. In Minneapolis, where legislation has stalled, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is asking other law enforcement agencies and city council for more funding to expand staffing, since many police officers went on leave.
Bryan said that Reimagine LA, along with other grassroots organizations, will make sure election officials keep their pledge by tracking where the money will be spent in terms of improving communities.
“As long as we continue to see lethal encounters with law enforcement on our phones and TVs, I believe voters will continue to call for more direct measures to address the root causes of injustice,” said Bryan. “Measure J is a powerful example, but I don’t believe it will be the last. There’s still a lot of work to do.”
Abdirahim Mohamoud, a 17-year-old Black student activist who lives in a predominantly white neighborhood about 10 miles southwest of Portland, said people should pay attention to the same challenges of racism and police violence — as well as grassroots actions — that are also occurring in suburban areas. He also worries the fight for police reform will wind down now that the election is over and a Democrat will take the highest seat in the nation.
“I have a really big fear that because these ballots passed, people are going to stop caring, stop being active with their voices,” said Mohamoud. “The lack of momentum from other people is probably going to be the downfall of it, because this is not something that only a few [people] can do or I, by myself can do, it’s a group effort.”
Mohamoud also said he no longer uses the word “defunding” out loud, since the term has been “so politicized” — as a means to rile up their base, Republicans have often made false claims that Democratic leaders like President-elect Joe Biden are in favor of defunding the police. One of the only ballot measures that was a loss for police accountability this election cycle was about budgeting: In DuPage County, Illinois, voters overwhelmingly voted to continue financial support of law enforcement and public safety as its “top budgeting priority.”
Omeoga, meanwhile, argues that defunding isn’t a view, but rather a tactic in reenvisioning policing in communities. That includes diverting money from the police and reinvesting it in communities, changing the way people use 911 calls when addressing car accidents or mental health crises, and implementing a robust policing education that would improve relationships across communities.
“Believe it or not, we have tried to reform policing for the last at least 200 years, and nothing has actually been fixed because it’s not exactly broken,” Omeoga said. “Abolitionists will say we understand that this system of policing is in the interest of capitalism and white supremacy, so the tactic is defunding the police to take our reliance away from the police and turning it into new systems of community accountability and safety that isn’t relying on the state.”
For Tyler, reforming the police creates an avenue toward defunding. He expects more police reform initiatives to emerge in upcoming ballots as city leaders learn from each other. Some of the measures he expects to see are changes that would build on previous measures such as the oversight commission having the ability to hire and fire the police chief.
“This is a long haul and an ongoing national conversation,” said Tyler. “It’s really about the citizens taking control over police departments because the police have proven themselves incapable of policing themselves. I’m happy that the first step is done, but this is a multi-year fight, not a one-campaign fight. We have a long way to go.”