Trump's attack on Pence could haunt his 2024 plans: columnist

On Sunday Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) expressed support for a bill that would make it impossible for a future vice president to overturn the certification of elections to come and the Washington Post's Greg Sargent is now claiming that any plans Donald Trump had for making another attempt at stealing the 2024 presidential election has likely gone up in smoke.

In his column, Sargeant points to Manchin's interview on CNN's "State of the Union'" on Sunday where he told host Jake Tapper that reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA) makes a lot of sense after the Jan. 6 insurrection inspired by the former president.

As Manchin noted, the original bill needs to have the language clarified, telling the CNN host, "What really caused the insurrection? They thought there was ambiguity” adding it provided an “avenue they could go through to overturn the election. Because there was.”

"When one congressman and one senator can bring a state’s authentic count to a halt, it’s wrong. And basically not protecting the electors — and you can change electors — before you send them here … this is what we’re going to fix," the West Virginia Democrat elaborated.

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According to the Washington Post columnist, a statement last week from Trump where he attacked former vice president Mike Pence and surprisingly admitted he thought Pence should have “overturned the Election" will only add fuel to get the Senate to pass the bill and eliminate any future doubt about election interference.

"That’s why it’s a big deal that Manchin has now clarified that ECA reform will seek to safeguard against states sending sham electors," Sargeant wrote that "...everything Trump is doing further strengthens the case for it."

"At the same time, this case is also being reinforced by revelations emanating from the Jan. 6 select committee. We’ve learned that more people around Trump were involved in this effort to get sham electors appointed than previously known," he explained. "So the way to success here might look like this: Trump will continue trying to put in place the building blocks for the next effort, even as more revelations and his own corrupt admissions keep coming, creating a backdrop that heightens the threat — and the case for ECA reform," before wryly adding, "whether Trump knows it or not, much of the heavy lifting will be getting done by Trump himself."

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