Why Is The Left Suddenly Talking About A ‘Coup’ At The Ballot Box?
Issues & Insights | 8 Feb, 2024 | I & I Editorial Board

The left is already making the case for extreme, violent action should Trump win.

For the past three years, the left has claimed Donald Trump lied about the 2020 election and then attempted an insurrection on Jan. 6 to overturn the results. But now that Trump is leading in polls, the left is talking ominously about a “coup.” Pay attention, because if Trump wins in 2024, this will be how the left tries to stop him from getting anything done.

At a protest in Washington, D.C., a week ago – organized by a group that calls itself “Stop the Coup 2025” – Markus Batchelor, the national political director of People for the American Way, told the crowd that “Jan. 6 was just a dress rehearsal.”

So is this group predicting Trump will try to take over in 2025 even if Biden wins reelection?

Not exactly. He went on to say that coups “don’t need weapons to succeed.” He said that “coups can be committed by pen and paper,” “coups can be committed at the ballot,” and “coups can be committed by seemingly democratic processes.”

Come again?

The definition of “coup d’etat” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is “the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group.”

What is Batchelor saying? That if Trump wins in November it will be the equivalent of a violent overthrow of government?

Basically, yes.

The Stop the Coup website says that: “The GOP plans to install a Day One Dictator and dismantle our democracy.”

So, all this “coup” talk is about what Trump would do if he were elected.

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The rally was a bust. It attracted only a handful of attendees and, aside from Breitbart and this editorial, doesn’t appear to have generated any press attention. But don’t let that fool you.