In a Tuesday piece for Breitbart , the publication’s senior-editor-at-large, Joel B. Pollak, outlined a possible forthcoming election scenario in which Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives could end up re-electing President Donald Trump .
The columnist claimed it’s possible that neither Trump nor his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden , will secure enough Electoral College votes to win in November. In this case, Pollak pointed to the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that the House must “immediately” select the president.
Although the former Democrat acknowledged that Pelosi and her Democratic Party allies would be opposed to Trump, he also noted that the 12th Amendment says that votes would be taken by counting one vote from each state House delegation.
“While there are 435 representatives, there will only be 50 votes. And a current tally of representatives in each state shows that there are more Republican-majority delegations than Democrat-majority delegations. Republicans control 26 delegations; Democrats dominate 23; Michigan is evenly split 7-7.”
“That would leave Democrats only one option left to prevent Trump from being re-elected: they could deny the House a quorum — which, according to the 12th Amendment, requires two-thirds of the states to be represented by at least one member,” the columnist added.
The Breitbart editor acknowledged that this denial would be “difficult to sustain indefinitely.” But in the case that it was sustained until Trump’s term ended in January, the 20th amendment states that the vice president would become acting U.S. leader for the duration of the standoff — Mike Pence or Kamala Harris, depending on the party in power.
The possibility of a close or contested election has sparked various theories on the aftermath. As The Inquisitr reported, veteran Republican operative Jonathan Lockwood warned that Trump’s loss could plunge America into chaos. Elsewhere, former Department of Homeland Security analyst Daryl Johnson claimed that extremists are already making plans for this scenario.
Many have suggested that Trump will refuse to leave office if he loses in November, and Bernie Sanders has urged Congress and the media apparatus to begin preparing for this scenario. As reported by Forbes , Biden’s campaign deployed 600 lawyers for the possibility that Trump attempts to steal the election.
Although Pollak and others push their party for landslide wins, CNN outlined many situations in which the race could come down to as little as one electoral vote. The publication also highlighted the possibility of a 269-269 tie, which it noted would put the decision into the hands of the House. As outlined in the previously mentioned Breitbart piece, this would lead to a Trump win as of now.