Pelosi to become President if Trump gets his way
President Donald Trump tweeted recently:
“…Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”.
A firestorm of rebuke across both parties came swiftly, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell flatly rejecting the idea of delaying the presidential election. The law is clear that only Congress can change the date, so it appears the President cannot unilaterally force a delay.
However, his constant threats to contest or delay the election puts Democrats on edge. The prospect of Trump hanging onto the power of the Presidency despite an election, or no election at all, seems crazy. Because it is. We have laws for that.
The Twentieth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that the term of the President and Vice President expires on January 20th. Full Stop. It doesn’t say that the term is extended if the election is delayed or contested. So even if Trump were to get his way, which in itself is a long shot, he would gain not even an extra day as President.
It gets even better for Democrats. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, next in line for succession under the federal law would be elevated to the Presidency on January 20th if there is a vacancy. Interestingly, something similar happened under the Nixon presidency, another President who was willing to interfere with an election and was impeached as a result. The House Minority Leader Gerald Ford became President when Nixon resigned, after having been confirmed as Vice President less than a year before when Nixon’s Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned.
So perhaps every time Trump tweets that the election must be delayed or contested, Democrats should talk about their plans for a short-term Pelosi Presidency rather than taking his bait. It’s called distraction. The real news the day of that tweet: GDP down 32.9%, record coronavirus deaths in California and Florida and Obama’s eulogy of civil rights icon, Representative John Lewis.
