Bothered whether Donald Trump can be reinstated as the United States of America’s President after a recent survey suggested that more than a quarter of Republicans believe it could happen this year, experts have reiterated that there is no legal or constitutional basis for it.
According to an Economist/YouGov poll conducted between November 6 and 9, at least 28 per cent of people who identify as Republican believe that it is “somewhat likely” or “very likely” that Trump will be reinstated as president before the end of 2021.
The percentage of Republicans who believe that the man who lost the 2020 election will soon return to the White House is also increasing, with a previous Economist/YouGov survey in October revealing 22 per cent of Republicans consider it “somewhat” or “very likely” to happen.
The poll results appear to be based on the belief of the so-called Big Lie—which has been pushed by Trump, his supporters, and QAnon conspiracy theorists—that Joe Biden only won the last election because of widespread voter fraud and Trump will return to his rightful place in the White House when this is proven.
Speaking to Newsweek, Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former U.S. attorney in Detroit, explained that even if there is proof of voter fraud, something which hasn’t materialized more than one year since the 2020 election took place, there is “absolutely no mechanism” in the law where Trump could become president.
“As former Attorney General William Barr noted, there was no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Even if some new revelation somehow proved that Trump had lost the 2020 election because of fraud, the result would not be to reinstate Trump,” McQuade said.
“The only way President Joe Biden could be removed from office under that scenario would be impeachment and conviction. Even then, he would be succeeded by President Kamala Harris. If somehow she were also impeached and convicted, then we would follow the normal line of succession, resulting in a President Nancy Pelosi.”
Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, added that the Constitution is “quite specific” about how someone can be removed from office and have someone else replace them.
The obvious way is a new election, with Trump eligible to throw his hat in the ring again in 2024. Another way is that the vice president can succeed if the current president is impeached, dies, or otherwise becomes unable to carry out his role.
“But that would mean Vice President Harris, not Trump, would become president,” Volokh told Newsweek.
“There’s no constitutionally provided mechanism for any entity, whether the courts, Congress, or anyone else simply reconsider the certified election results once a president is inaugurated.”
Volokh did suggest one outlandish and highly improbable way in which Trump could return as president.
“In theory, one can imagine Vice President Harris being impeached or resigning, President Biden nominating Trump to replace her, Trump being confirmed by both Houses under section 2 of the 25th Amendment, and then President Biden resigning or being impeached and new Vice President Trump becoming president.
“But for obvious reasons, I doubt that President Biden will go along with that,” Volokh said.
Can Donald Trump Be Reinstated As President Of U.S. Before 2021? Survey Says Yes
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is one of the main orchestrators of the false belief that Trump will be reinstated as president, setting out deadlines over the past year for it to happen—which have obviously failed to come to fruition.
Lindell previously claimed Trump would return as president in August because the Supreme Court would be so impressed with his apparent proof of voter fraud in states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania that they would vote 9-0 in favor of Trump being declared the true winner of the last election.
Lindell’s prediction had no basis in constitutional law and his August deadline fell during a three-month recess for the Supreme Court.
On November 2, a large crowd of QAnon supporters—who not only believe Trump won the 2020 election but had been battling a cabal of satanic pedophiles during his time in the office—gathered in Dallas, Texas, in the hope John F. Kennedy Jr. would return from the dead and somehow announce Trump as the true president.
Newsweek
