Obviously, this is not our first warning; indeed, Donald Trump's response to the Michigan Democratic primary fits a pattern that goes back years and will certainly progress through the general election this Fall. But hearing him rail away in theory doesn't shake the spine like seeing it in practice. And for real, it appears as though Trump is putting in serious practice time in Michigan and elsewhere, ready for gameday this fall.
As has been noted here for months, voters are furious over the state of the nation, and that goes for both Left and Right, though most on the Right can't bring themselves to lay their anger at the feet of the man almost solely responsible for the inflation, wars, and healthcare cuts fertilizing that anger. The Reds are most certainly willing to oust incumbents, witness Cornyn, Massie, among others.
Of course, the same is happening on the Left with the rise of outsiders and the Democratic Socialists (who one wishes would simply call themselves FDR Democrats, keeping the commitment, ditching the name; it would achieve everything they're looking for while reminding the country what Democrats are supposed to support and say). The latest example of blue populism is Dr. Abdul El-Sayed from already mentioned Michigan, who beat out comfy party insider Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.
Now, Trump can't even spell MENSA, never mind read a question, but he has a genius nose for political trouble. He needs MI GOP Senator Mike Rogers in office next January like he needs his Big Mac for lunch. But he also knows that El-Sayed's victory, while not definitive, negates a predictable Rogers versus Stevens race. It also signals voter anger, and that anger may finally clip Trump.
So what's a president like Trump to do in the face of a healthy democratic challenge? Well, a sick attempt to cancel the vote, of course. He's done it before, but that was to save his own immediate skin. What he has not done before is broaden his "rigged" claims to... well, save his own skin from investigations, less direct than tossing him from office.
In the face of El-Sayed's win, Trump tweeted:
“Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World. It is strictly Third World!... “The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment."
Note that Trump nearly always reserves words like "third world," or "s---holes" for predominantly Black communities — and yes, the MAGAs love him for it. But he wasn't done; indeed, he saved his most dangerous clause:
“Get ready for another Rigged Election. In November we must VOTE FOR MIKE ROGERS, and make Michigan TOO BIG TO RIG. God Bless America!"
Whatever else Michigan might be, it will not be a landslide election either way. But, as everyone knows, to Trump, it's not the margin of victory; it's who wins. We heard nothing about his victory in 2024, narrow as it was in Michigan, Musk satellites beaming ballot counts back and forth and all. As clean as an election can be from his point of view.
This result amply demonstrates Trump's obsession with the Save Act, which — despite their protests — goes far beyond requiring voter ID; it essentially federalizes elections. But take little comfort in states retaining control of election results because Trump can nullify wins in many other ways. It just takes genius deviousness.
So it's hard to foresee exactly how Trump and company would nullify those wins, but one can imagine the military moving in to package up ballots for a "fair" recount, all the way to simply declaring that he refuses to recognize the newly seated Congress because it was all rigged. He can say he will write his own laws, not allow a Cabinet member to testify in front of a Democratically controlled committee, or ignore an impeachment. Just spitballing — unfortunately, this column lacks MENSA membership also.
It is beyond cavil that Donald Trump has done more to threaten this democratic republic by casting doubt on the election process than every Republican before him, and that's even after demanding nationalized gerrymandering to a degree that has Karl Rove popping Klonopin chased by whiskey.
Trump's doing it again, getting in earlier, softening the battlefield — no real surprise there. The real trouble comes from the dynamic mentioned above. Voters tired of incumbency rightly expect their hard-earned victories to be recognized, to do something. And just as surely as McConnell refused to have the Senate "do something" in the face of an Obama Supreme Court appointment, expect Trump — having possibly lost the Senate and House, to be prepared to refuse to "do anything" to recognize Congress's powers because "they were all RIGGED" and thus "unfair" (He hilariously tosses around the word "unfair," unaware that his own fairness appeals to him as much as spinach salad.)
But those angry voters damn sure want fairness, and they want it every bit as badly as they wanted and deserved to have Joe Biden sworn in as president. A furious wind will whip us up. We have seen that trouble manifest in the past, and it will only get worse. Except Trump has two advantages this time: First, he's had practice now. Second, as someone who is, in Constitutional theory, on his way out, he may look through his big bag of ducks and find nothing quacking.
Trouble.
Or, more accurately, more trouble. After all, in the same way the country had no experience dealing with a president who refused to leave, there might be even less for a president who refuses to participate. He has spent every minute of his political life trying to be more like his heroes, Putin, Mohhamed Bin-Salam, Xi Jinping, leaders for life, answering to no one. What better way to cap his career than going it alone without Congress. Make up his own laws, his own budget, his own foreign deals, all of it.
What? The SCOTUS is going to stop him? Pffft. He declares a national emergency, and they back out, "It's a political question."
No. That leaves us on a bit of an island, and as sincere as our beliefs, as strong as our fortitude, and as solid as our conviction, never more pure, violence becomes too possible (not the first we've seen of that before, either, but not like this). Violence is different now, mutual assured destruction without nukes. A gun may not be fired. But cell towers and satellites may go offline, power grids shut down, net inaccessible, highways closed. Federal aid is definitely off the table. It's possible to "prevent violence."
The situation has been unsustainable for a while. But in response to Trump's inaction, some states may have no choice but to act in kind. Don't seat or recognize our senators? We hope Trump doesn't miss the money we won't send in. Some have even bandied about the idea of HI, CA, OR, WA, joining BC — "Pacifica" — in an EU-Type relationship with Canada. It won't happen next year. Doesn't mean it can't happen next generation. It would start somewhere.
Anyway.
Back to Michigan. Their candidate has not even lost yet, not Rogers, nor plenty of other worthy candidates. But our more liberal proto-politicians, ones bringing a stronger anti-establishment agenda, are sending a signal that Trump can't ignore. Thus it's started already. God only knows where it finishes. One thing we mortals can know: Donald Trump won't play "fair."
The salad days in which elections settled things definitively may be as far in the past as presidents with MENSA membership.
Jason Miciak is a Raw Story Columnist, a former editor at Occupy Democrats, author, attorney, political consultant, and single parent girldad. Please follow on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com