Trump's campaign 'is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results' and keep him in power: report

A startling new report from The Atlantic claims that President Donald Trump's campaign is discussing truly radical measures aimed at keeping him in power even if he loses the 2020 presidential election.

The basic idea is to claim close swing-state losses by Trump are due to voter fraud -- and use that as a justification to install "loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority" to override voters and back Trump in the electoral college.

"The state legislatures will say, ‘All right, we’ve been given this constitutional power. We don’t think the results of our own state are accurate, so here’s our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state,'" a Trump campaign legal adviser tells The Atlantic.

Lawrence Tabas, the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s chairman, tells The Atlantic that, while he would prefer a swift vote count, he's not ruling out the direct appointment of loyal electors.

"I just don’t think this is the right time for me to be discussing those strategies and approaches, but [direct appointment of electors] is one of the options," he said. "It is one of the available legal options set forth in the Constitution."

A Trump campaign spokesperson tells The Atlantic that the president wants a free and fair election -- but also does not deny the substance of the publication's reporting.