Bill Maher Asks Democrats ‘What’s The Plan’ If Donald Trump Refuses To Leave Office After Losing Election
During Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time, comedian Bill Maher sounded the alarm about the 2020 presidential election. According to the comedian, President Donald Trump will refuse to leave office — even if he loses — and the Democratic Party has no plan to counter him.
Per Mediaite, before beginning his monologue, the host played video clips of Trump claiming that the 2020 election is being “rigged” against him, and bragging about having bikers, military, the police, and his supporters — especially those who own guns — on his side. He then suggested that Trump will refuse to leave office if a Democrat beats him.
“So my question to all Democratic candidates is, what’s the plan?” Maher asked.
“If you win and the next day he claims he’s avoiding the election because of irregularities he’s hearing about, what do you do? What do you do when the crowd that was in Virginia this week $22,000 strong marches on Washington?”
The comedian said that he has discussed the issue with prominent Democrats, who always tell him that the solution is to “win big” in 2020, as to not give Trump the opportunity to dispute the results of the upcoming election.
That is problematic in and of itself, according to Maher, who argued that Democrats should not volunteer to “play by two different sets of rules.”
“Okay first of all, no! No! We don’t have to win via landslide,” he said.
“That’s the new paradigm? Republicans can win by one vote but we’re not legitimate unless it’s a landslide,” he added.
This is not the first time that Maher has warned about the possibility of Trump refusing to leave office. In November, for instance, he argued during a panel discussion that Trump will simply claim that the election was “rigged” if a Democrat beats him.
According to the comedian, Trump even called the 2016 election — which he won — “rigged,” which almost guarantees that he will do the same in 2020, especially if he loses. The president, Maher argued, will blame “fake news” and supposed irregularities for the loss, and refuse to concede the election.
Some prominent Democrats apparently share Maher’s concerns. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has also warned that Trump might not respect the will of the people in 2020.
The president has done very little to alleviate these concerns, it seems. Trump frequently makes jokes about abolishing term limits, and staying in office for up to 16 years. Most recently, as Newsweek reported, Trump joked about the matter during a speech before the Israeli-American Council National Summit.
