Prof. Lawrence Douglas, a legal scholar, tasked himself to think through the unthinkable. The result is a slim book, “Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020.” He begins by taking the President at his word. “While his defeat is far from certain, what is not uncertain is how he would react to electoral defeat, especially a narrow one. He will reject the result.” Douglas argues that Trump’s evident intent to hold on to his office, regardless of the will of the voters , is not the best measure of the damage he has wrought or the power he has accumulated. The worst case, as Douglas’s 3 catastrophes illustrate, is a close or contested result of the vote, which leads to a constitutional implosion and an explosion of violence: “This would represent a greater disaster for America than an outright victory by Trump.” It’s a jarring conclusion, and an entirely convincing one."
At www.newyorker.com
