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Democrats are expressing extreme concern regarding President Donald Trump’s attempts to sway the upcoming election.
“All the indicators are signaling danger,” noted Democratic strategist and USdaily political analyst David Axelrod in a post on X.
“Looking at the current situation, the @GOP would suffer significant losses this fall, primarily due to Trump’s lack of popularity,” Axelrod stated. “Therefore, he is implementing Plan B—taking any necessary measures to secure a victory. Anyone who thinks ‘He wouldn’t go that far’ isn’t paying attention.”
In other words, be prepared for anything, and don’t be taken aback by Trump’s actions in the months leading up to Election Day.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida, shared with USdaily’s John Berman on Friday that constituents in her heavily Democratic district are anxious about the upcoming November elections.
“For the first time in my entire career, John, I have voters expressing concern that the president might cancel elections or declare martial law. Some people have directly told me that they are anxious about the possibility of no elections in November,” Wasserman Schultz remarked.
She mentioned that she tries to alleviate her constituents’ more extreme worries.
Republicans have already gained an advantage
Wasserman Schultz is contesting in a congressional district that has been redistricted as part of the GOP’s broader strategy to reshape districts to their advantage before November. While Democrats have also created new maps in states like California, Republicans have been more effective in legal battles and could potentially gain as many as 10 seats in November due to the new maps established during the redistricting conflict, according to USdaily’s latest evaluation.
What additional actions is the White House taking to assist Republicans in November?
In the United States, individual states are responsible for conducting their own elections, but Axelrod outlined a series of measures that the Trump administration has taken to sway these processes.
A recent instance is Trump’s dismissal on Thursday of three out of four commissioners from the Election Assistance Commission, an independent bipartisan body established by Congress in 2002 to allocate federal funds to assist states in conducting secure elections. This is not the only election-related organization facing difficulties; the Federal Election Commission, which oversees campaign finance matters, also does not have enough commissioners to function.
The firings at the EAC are just one example of what Axelrod highlighted. I have included context for each of his points below.
… Combine that with political operative Pulte’s concerning appointment as DNI;
(Trump temporarily appointed Bill Pulte, a wealthy businessman turned housing official, as Director of National Intelligence. While overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he controversially accused Trump’s political adversaries of mortgage fraud. Although Pulte lacks experience in intelligence, he is closely connected to the GOP. USdaily has reported that Trump expects Pulte to prioritize election security issues, which is an unconventional role for the head of intelligence.)
… election deniers are in the most critical oversight roles;
(After all, an election denier is in the presidency, and he has appointed individuals who share his disbelief regarding the 2020 election, which he refuses to acknowledge as lost, throughout the federal government.)
… Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting, and the possible weaponization of the Postal Service;
(Trump has attempted to gain control over mail-in voting from states in several significant ways, including creating a national database of voter registrations. However, states on both sides of the political spectrum have contested this effort, and a court recently rejected his attempt to instruct the US Postal Service to send mail-in ballots only in compliant states. The legal disputes will persist on various fronts before the election.)
… his obsessive promotion of the SAVE Act, which would serve as a major voter suppression mechanism;
(Trump has vocally criticized Republican senators for their failure to pass an election security bill, which many voter integrity organizations deem unnecessary. He has urged senators to eliminate the filibuster to pass the legislation, but Republican senators have resisted. This week, Trump withheld his signature from a bipartisan housing bill out of frustration over lawmakers’ inability to pass the election bill, which he refers to as the SAVE America Act. The election bill remains stalled while the housing bill will enact without his endorsement.)
… and his relentless, baseless allegations of election fraud, which he uses to rationalize drastic federal interventions.
(Despite the absence of evidence for widespread election fraud, there are concerns that Trump may leverage claims of fraud, potentially amplified by Pulte as DNI, to take extraordinary actions before November. Mullin was queried at his confirmation hearing about the possibility of deploying ICE agents to polling locations and did not dismiss the idea outright. Nonetheless, there are no publicly disclosed concrete plans to execute such actions.)
Additional points Axelrod did not address
Last year, USdaily reported on how the Trump administration, as part of its purported efficiency initiatives, had aimed to undermine or dismantle election security networks that the federal government uses to assist states.
This latest action—terminating commissioners at the EAC—likely won’t significantly affect the upcoming election, according to watchdog and good governance organizations. Nonetheless, it raises concerns for many of them.
Alerts about a gradual takeover
“Even though the EAC does not directly manage elections, we must interpret this as part of a larger trend to centralize control over election administration and skew the playing field,” stated Michael McNulty, policy director at Issue One, which identifies itself as a “crosspartisan political reform organization.”
McNulty, who has experience working in elections abroad, has cautioned that Trump’s maneuvers equate to a slow-moving election takeover strategy that everyone should remain vigilant about.
Trump’s attempts to assert influence over the upcoming election are evident, but they have also encountered failures. For instance, the Supreme Court recently sided with states allowing mail-in ballots postmarked on time but received after Election Day, marking a significant election-related defeat for Trump and his allies in court.
Several other challenges have also been presented to Trump by lower courts.
States are taking control
USdaily’s Fredreka Schouten recently reported about initiatives in Democratic states to enact laws that protect their elections from federal interference, either by preventing the sharing of voter registration information or prohibiting the presence of federal law enforcement.
Votes will be cast and counted
Regardless of Trump’s actions, Americans should be assured that the upcoming election will be legitimate, according to David Becker, founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
He emphasizes that voters will have the opportunity to cast their ballots and that those votes will be counted accurately.
“I doubt that the dismissals even rank among the top five election-related news stories this week,” he commented regarding the EAC dismissals. “For example, a Trump-appointed judge blocking the DOJ’s subpoena for sensitive personal data on poll workers was significantly more impactful.”
Refer to USdaily’s report on that court defeat for the Department of Justice.
Becker stated that while the EAC dismissals are indeed an overreach, “we shouldn’t exaggerate the impact this will have on the elections, both this year and in future cycles.”
He argued that elections are still administered by the states, as mandated by the Constitution, and “they are carrying out that responsibility exceptionally well.”
