Trump Reportedly Has a Backup Plan to Hold Onto the White House Even If He Loses the Election

With only slightly over a month before the November election, the vast majority of swing state and national polls signal that a Joe Biden victory over President Donald Trump is highly likely.

In reaction, the Trump campaign has pulled out all the stops to stifle access to mail-in voting in an election year expected to see an unprecedented amount of mail-in ballots.

While another Trump upset victory isn't out of the question, The Atlantic reports that Trump and his closest allies are considering a plan to secure the White House for the current President regardless of the people's will.

Citing "sources in the Republican party at the state and national levels," the report reads:

"[T]he Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority.

With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline expires."

A Trump campaign legal advisor elaborated:

"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 ... If you have this notion that ballots can come in for I don't know how many days—in some states a week, 10 days—then that onslaught of ballots just gets pushed back and pushed back and pushed back. So pick your poison. Is it worse to have electors named by legislators or to have votes received by Election Day?"

People were alarmed at the campaign's effort.

Some said that if the effort to bypass the election succeeds, the United States as we knew it will be over.

When asked by the Atlantic if the reported plans were true, the Trump campaign Deputy Press Secretary Thea McDonald did not deny them:

"It's outrageous that President Trump and his team are being villainized for upholding the rule of law and transparently fighting for a free and fair election. The mainstream media are giving the Democrats a free pass for their attempts to completely uproot the system and throw our election into chaos."

Republican party leaders in the swing state of Pennsylvania cited in the article said they've already floated loyal electors to the President's people.