MSNBC’s Chris Hayes accuses Trump of plotting a coup following 'Get rid of ballots' remark
Following a press conference on Wednesday in which President Trump not only refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power were he to lose the November election, but also spoke of getting rid of ballots, Chris Hayes accused the president of openly plotting a coup. Trump has spent months spreading unfounded conspiracies about mail-in voting, and his hand-picked postmaster general has taken steps to slow down the mail-in voting process. Trump is also pushing to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court before the election. Hayes believes Trump will try to use the Supreme Court to invalidate as many mail-in ballots as possible and give him the election. Trump has already said he’s “counting on” the courts to decide the election.
Video Transcript
CHRIS HAYES: A chilling moment, I gotta say. I don't know any other way to say it. The President of the United States threatening violence to stay in power. Sounds weird coming out of my mouth, but that's what happened.
KYLIE MAR: MSNBC host Chris Hayes slammed President Trump Wednesday night following a press conference earlier in the day, where when asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election, Trump had this to say.
DONALD TRUMP: We're going to have to see what happens. You know, that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots.
- But people are rioting. Do you commit to making sure that there's a peaceful transfer of power?
DONALD TRUMP: Wouldn't want to have-- get rid of the ballots, and you'll have a very trans-- we'll have a very peaceful-- there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation.
KYLIE MAR: Trump immediately received fierce backlash, including from Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who said that a peaceful transition of power is fundamental to democracy. And Hayes accused the president of openly plotting a coup.
CHRIS HAYES: What the president is doing here is the most explicit that he has been about his plans for this election. He's plotting, in open and public repeatedly, a coup to steal the election and hold onto power.
KYLIE MAR: In recent months, Trump has continually spread unfounded conspiracies about mail-in voting fraud, sued states that expanded mail-in voting due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and his handpicked postmaster general has taken steps to hamper the mail-in voting process. And Hayes believes this is all part of the plan.
CHRIS HAYES: He will take advantage of something called the red mirage, where more Republican votes come in first, because those people voted in person, making it look like Trump is ahead on election night. And then he will attempt to use the courts to delay something called the blue shift, which is just the counting of more heavily democratic mail-in votes. They're all the same votes.
KYLIE MAR: Trump is pushing to fill that Supreme Court seat left vacant following the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and has openly admitted, with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, that he's counting on them to decide the election.
CHRIS HAYES: Those mail-in ballots are also the reason the president says-- keeps saying that he is counting on the courts, the federal courts to help him win. He's not going to wait for the ballots to be counted. He's saying it.
