Repost: Will Trump Go? A Conversation w/ Lawrence Douglas

Good Law | Bad Law

If Trump loses in November, what will he do? What could happen? Will it be a complete meltdown of our electoral and political system? Or worse?

As this week marks the first presidential debate in the 2020 election, we are reposting our conversation with Professor Lawrence Douglas. Originally episode #196, this discussion is absolutely critical as November approaches.

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Lawrence Douglas, a professor of law, jurisprudence, and social thought at Amherst College and the author of a new book, Will He Go?: Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020. In this episode, Aaron and Lawrence tackle what will happen if Trump loses the election but refuses to concede defeat – discussing the notion of electoral integrity, the role of the electoral college and the other ways the system we have for electing our president is antiquated and dysfunctional.

In short, the potential for dirty tricks, even election fraud and political crisis-making is great and it is real.

In advance of the 2020 election, Lawrence prepares readers of “Will He Go?” for the possibility of a less-than-peaceful transition of power. What legal and extra-legal paths could Trump pursue in mobilizing a challenge? Lawrence considers the chaos that could unfold if Trump loses a closely contested election. Aaron and Lawrence talk about Trump’s base, what past tumultuous elections have taught us about ways the election train could run right off the tracks this year, the increasing importance of mail-in ballots and “the big blue shift,” the impact of the pandemic on voting, and much more.

What could the fallout be? Can our democracy snap back from Trump?

Professor Douglas is the author of seven books, including The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial, a New York Times “Editor’s Choice,” and has published two novels. His commentary and essays have appeared in Harper’s, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Lost Angeles Times; and he is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian (US), where he is also a contributing opinion writer. A Yale Law graduate, Lawrence teaches interdisciplinary courses to a range of students, some first-term, while others are designed for juniors and seniors. Professor Douglas’ courses ask students to see the law not as a narrow system of rules, but as a complex system that serves to constitute and maintain ordered patterns of social life.

How might Trump engineer his refusal to acknowledge electoral defeat? Listen now to find out!

To learn more about Professor Douglas, please visit his bio page here.

To check out Professor Douglas’ new book, Will He Go?: Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020, please click here.

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Lawrence Douglas

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