Sometimes when I think back on Jan 6 I like to peek down the rabbit hole of what if Trump had a chance to test the idea of Mike Pence overturning the 2020 election results.
We have seen it from one side a few localities are looking to hold him accountable for the attempt and that is a mess for sure but surely 10x as much legal action would have been taken to challenge him actually staying in office. No question it would have reached SCOTUS more quickly than most cases and given the ‘evidence’ we have today most likely would NOT have ruled in Trumps favor. Plenty of questions/concerns about that election but SCOTUS is not going to connect dots they would require PROOF. I say Trump loses that case.
The 2022 mid-terms were thought by many to be bringing a ‘Red Wave’ but that did not happen so what would it have looked like whether Trump stayed or tried and got ousted by a court ruling? Dems would rally for big numbers to try and prevent Republicans from gaining a majority in the House and Senate and we already saw a number of Trump candidates fall where they were thought to have an edge. If he didn’t have Congress and was facing dozens more legal challenges would a second Trump term be able to get much done?
Had Trump stayed and been sent home by SCOTUS and unable or unwilling to run for this Nov election who would the Republicans had to try and oust papa Joe? Maybe Trump could get behind someone or that might just backfire but who would have risen to the top for the GOP?
I would argue that this reality is likely better than one where Trump had to step down a couple months into 2021.