Trump asked aides if he could pursue a wild plan to replace the Electoral College with loyalists who would ignore the vote, report says

© BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images 

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump has asked aides about a plan to remain in office by subverting the Electoral College, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Under the plan, GOP-controlled state legislatures would ignore the popular vote in swing states and appoint Trump loyalists as electors to secure the president a second term.

Business Insider reported earlier Thursday that the plan was gaining currency among some Trump supporters — despite how unlikely it is to work.

Experts say the plan, though technically possible, would face enormous legal and political obstacles.

The Times' sources stressed that though Trump had asked about the plan, he did not seem to entertain it seriously.

President Donald Trump has asked top aides about a wild plan that involves replacing electors in swing states with loyalists to secure himself a second term, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The Times report came hours after Business Insider reported that the plan was gaining currency among Trump allies.

The plan hinges on Republican state legislatures deciding to ignore the states' results and instead send a new group of electors to the Electoral College who would cast their votes for Trump.

Such a plan, while technically possible, has been widely dismissed by experts as unworkable in practice and an affront to US democracy. Business Insider's report noted some of the problems with making it work.

Citing sources familiar with Trump's activities, The Times reported that the president pressed his advisors about the plan at a meeting on Wednesday.

"It was not a detailed conversation, or really a serious one," and did not reflect any "obsessive desire" of Trump to remain in office, the report described the sources as saying.

Read more: EXCLUSIVE: Documents reveal Trump is building his own 'deep state' by leaving political appointees behind in government for the Biden administration

Trump has made no public statement since Insider projected Joe Biden to win the presidency on Friday and other major news organizations called the race for him on Saturday.

He has spent time playing golf, watching cable news, and tweeting accusations of electoral fraud, many of which Twitter has labeled misleading.

According to reports, top advisors have admitted privately that Trump's lawsuits challenging vote counts in swing states are unlikely to succeed.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Comments 16


S W1h
So he claims the election was stolen without evidence, now he wants to actually steal it, back? … solid con man move!
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Norris Gillen3h
Mr. Trump...Wow...Guess he is forgetting about the war for independence. So he wants to be King of the USA... So, it would be, H.R.H, King Trump....He really should consider becoming Baby Huey...He is acting more like that...
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Kenny Walsh4h
Does this man .. Realize it was the American People themselves that voted. Please Mr. Trump come down to Reality Please!. Except the results. Nobody is trying to fraud you. You Lost fair and square. Come Back in 4 years and run again. But please give this up. Your really being outrages now. What your doing right now is only going to make things harder on you.
All most people will do now is only throw cracks at you .. And make fun of you.See more
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Tommy lee6h
If this incident is true, this man should be removed by force immediately
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Mike Davis6h
Your country really has a split personality - both ends of each spectrum seem unmovable. Maybe entertain a third party? From what we see from afar is democracy is under attack.
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F B7h
These are Dictator tactics any any GOP allies who take this seriously need to be locked up for treason against the state. Desperate ideology. The election needs to be certified period and move on with the transition.
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stuart renouf7h
love how it was okay for the dems to say they will do this but !!!!!!
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stuart renouf7h
it is amazing that the media is continuing to lie like this
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ski hi558h
Throw that con in jail.
Donny song.

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friends, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full of LIES
I traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I COULDN"T GET IT MY WAY.See more