The lame-duck president’s willingness to entertain such proposals highlights the threat he still poses to democracy.
During a meeting at the White House on Friday, President Donald Trump reportedly asked his advisers about retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s recent suggestion that the administration impose martial law and use the military to conduct a “rerun” of the November presidential election. According to the New York Times, which first reported the discussion Saturday, Trump’s advisers pushed back against Flynn’s proposal and other ideas the president floated during the meeting, including his suggestion that notorious right-wing attorney Sidney Powell be named special counsel for an investigation into baseless allegations of widespread “voter fraud.” Flynn, who Trump pardoned last month, was reportedly present at the White House meeting. In a tweet early Sunday morning, Trump — who is set to leave office in a month — denied that he raised Flynn’s call for martial law, dismissing the Times story as “fake news” and “knowingly bad reporting.
