Donald Trump plus armed militias spells trouble – Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP

If Donald Trump succeeds in appointing a new conservative US Supreme Court judge, the ultimate arbiters of a disputed election may turn out to be loyal to him, writes Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP.

Donald Trump has been getting his excuses in early about the November presidential election (Picture: Evan Vucci/AP)

A perfect storm has gathered across the United States, which threatens the foundations of democracy in America in a way that will affect us all.

The death of the liberal Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is about the worst thing that could have happened for those who care about progressive policy and functional democracy in the continental US. Sounds melodramatic but, Trump has the votes and the time to get his nominee though confirmation by the Senate, stacking that court to his advantage.

With election night just a few sleeps away, he will use that leverage to energise his right-wing base with the prospect of overturning abortion legislation.

He’ll also have a majority now loyal to him in the ultimate arbiter for any disputed result (remember the Gore-Bush hanging chad drama of 2000?).

Trump has already started feeding the narrative that the coming election has been rigged against him and anything short of a landslide defeat will see the result contested all the way to the Supreme Court.

He is suggesting that the ballots sent in by those Americans who vote by post have already tampered with.

He’s getting his excuses in early and if he loses, with an armed militia on his side, there is every chance things could turn nasty.

A Supreme Court loyal to Donald Trump is not what America’s founding fathers had in mind as a constitutional break on presidential power.

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