General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Trump officially became an illegitimate President today [View all]DFW
(54,286 posts)I doubt anyone in Congress will push for a wholesale annulment of the election, much as that would be the morally correct thing to do. Governments are scared of things without precedent (too bad they don't react with similar ingenuity to problems like these that are equally without precedent).
That therefore leaves us with Pence (from the fire back into the frying pan) or Ryan, who is most certainly aware of his (suddenly short) constitutional path to the presidency.
I see little chance that the Roberts Court, even short by one, will oversee a wholesale canceling of the election results and somehow call for a new one, even if a constitutional argument COULD be found. Imagine the wrangling over the rules of that one. Would it extend to the Congressional races as well (yum, slurp)?
The Republicans/Russians (it matters little at this point) put a few safeguards in place this time. No decent, halfway benevolent guy like Gerry Ford to take over if a hated controversial president is sent packing. Make no mistake--if Trump goes, unless the election results are nixed wholesale, we get someone just as bad, only more evil and less scatter-brained. Yeah, neither Pence nor Ryan would nuke Pyongyang, but their actions domestically with a Republican Congress would kill just as many Americans over time as a North Korean nuke landing in Century City.