Is Trump pondering Bolivian election to counter impending loss?

Trump has been signaling for some time now his likely election loss will be a fraud, based in part on delayed mail in ballots. He wants to declare victory Election Night assuming his base will turn out same day voting wins in swing states. Trump may be eyeing the October 20, 2019 election in Bolivia where the Movement For Socialism Party (MAS) under Evo Morales prevailed over his right wing opposition. Election day results favored the opposition party in line to force a run off. But MAS votes trickled in over the next 4 days from MAS strongholds in the countryside which invariably are late arriving. On October 24, Morales declared victory, achieving the 10 percentage point margin to avoid a runoff. Opposition party leaders, with support from the U.S. and Organization of American States (OAS) no like. They instigated a coup in early November, based on alleged vote fraud over the late arriving MAS ballots. Morales and his administration were forced to resign to quell violence claiming 31 lives.

If Trump follows the Bolivian right wing playbook, he may not need a violent coup to retain power. Packing the Supreme Court with conservatives worked for George W. Bush in 2000. An even larger conservative majority, aided by 11th hour confirmation of Amy Barrett, may be just what Trump needs to stage a soft coup in what could be the most bollixed up U.S. election since the 1876 debacle that certified Rutherford Hayes president just one day before his March 3, 1877 Inauguration.

In a footnote to the right wing theft of Evo Morales’ 2019 squeaker socialist victory, the next Bolivian election this month left no doubt. MAS crushed the opposition by 29 percentage points. Let’s hope it doesn’t take a year to unravel Trump’s planned shenanigans next week.