Reacting to Donald Trump’s refusal to say he will not interfere with the 2026 midterm election, a former head of the Republican National Committee claimed the president is actually setting the stage to take extreme measures.
During a wide-ranging interview with Time, the president was asked he would rule out taking emergency action, to which he replied, “I don't rule anything out or in. We'll see."
"You mean the Insurrection Act?" Trump asked, before giving a non-committal, "Never used it."
MS NOW host Michael Steele, pointed out on Friday that Trump isn't being coy -- he’s shopping the idea to watch it be debated by experts.
“You have to understand that if Donald Trump is articulating it, he's articulating it for two reasons,” he told MS NOW host Peter Alexander. "One, he's thought about it, and two, he's trial-ballooning it to see what the response would be.”
“He knows it's going to be a level of noise, how high will that level be? How loud will the sound be that gauges what other reinforcements he may need to execute the plan — not to back off the plan, Peter, but to lean into it to make sure he has every piece in place that when he pulls the trigger, it's done.”
“And so we need to understand that, going into November 3rd and coming out of November 3rd, do not be surprised if at some point in that process, Donald Trump declares this national emergency, because, I don't know, ballots aren't going his way,” he continued.
“Whatever the cause may be, he's going to do it. So we've got to be smart about it from a legal standpoint and a political standpoint,” he warned.