'Election war games' advised to stop Trump from stealing the midterms: lawmaker
The Democratic Party must act now to stump Donald Trump's election-stealing promises, according to a party representative gearing up for the election cycle.
The president has made it clear he wants to hinder the rights of voters across the country with a proposed election bill that would require voter ID and make mail-in ballots harder to use. Whether the bill passes is yet to be seen, but Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss believes the time is now for him and his colleagues to act against Trump.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Auchincloss said the party must fight fire with fire and brace itself for what could be a far from typical midterm cycle.
Auchincloss said, "There’s never been an example of him accepting the outcomes of an election result that’s not to his benefit. So I think we have to assume he’s going to try to steal it.
"They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat," he added.
Auchincloss has since outlined the two steps the Democratic Party should take ahead of the midterms, and one step involves pushing back on Trump's inevitable post-election claims early.
"One, we should push for passage of the Bivens Act," Auchincloss said, "which is basically a law that would allow federal officials to be held liable in state courts for violating the Constitution.
"That would really help prevent some of his henchmen under the color of law from going to the states which administer our elections and bullying them for those infamous ‘find me 11,000 votes’ kind of thing. We allow state officials to be held liable for violating the Constitution in federal courts, but we don’t do the opposite. And that’s a loophole that should be closed.
"Number two, we need to pre-butt his gaslighting. What Democrats need to do is hold a bunch of election war games this summer to show, here’s the phone calls he’s gonna make, here’s the county clerks he’s gonna bully, here’s the votes he’s gonna try to find, here’s why he’s lying."
The Massachusetts rep suggested the time to do this is now, before Trump can start rolling out his own narrative. Auchincloss explained, "We’re up against this guy who’s going to lie about what’s right in front of people’s eyes. And we just have to say it over and over and over again. He is lying. And do it before he starts lying."