padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
cool let's look at yr sources. cos did you actually, like, read any of them?you can easily google for more examples
every single one - except the Salon piece, which is also an author doing promo for a book about the history of secession in America - is overwhelmingly about the (relatively) bloodless means Trump could/did use to try to illegally retain power. they all mention violence the possibility of violence but it's a real stretch to say that any are predictions of a violent coup.
the first Atlantic piece says
Command of U.S. armed forces is among the most potent powers of any president. Could Trump dispatch active-duty forces to Democratic strongholds in swing states—say, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Milwaukee—with intent to suppress the vote or interfere with the count...Could it happen? Not easily, and not likely, but it is not impossible either.
the second Atlantic piece, in the middle of predicting, very accurately, exactly how Trump would try to steal the election, does mention a potential "nightmare" in which "Federal personnel in battle dress" intervene to restore order after a staged outbreak of violence by Trump supporters at polling places. which tbf, did not happen. it also says "this is speculation, of course" based on things he actually did or threatened to do over the summer.
and again, the main thrust is overwhelmingly voter suppression and dubious legal and procedural tricks, which did actually happen/is happening
The Atlantic said:To a modern democratic sensibility, discarding the popular vote for partisan gain looks uncomfortably like a coup, whatever license may be found for it in law.
The Esquire piece is literally just block quotes of the second Atlantic piece
half of the Verdict piece is devoted to qualifying its use of the word "coup" (against liberal concern trolling) in the first place
it does mention potential Proud Boys violence and Trump installation of loyalists at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, both things which, again, actually happenedThere are reasons that we use modifiers to describe different types of coups. There are military coups, bloody coups, bloodless coups, silent coups, people’s coups, aborted coups, and so on.
What needs to happen for Trump and the Republicans to pull off a bloodless coup?
Even if this is Trump’s last gasp at a bloodless coup
Neither the Secret Service nor members of the military or other law enforcement will (other than some rogue actors) carry out illegal orders