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Will Trump declare martial law? Republicans slammed for urging POTUS to suspend constitution to hold fresh election

General Michael Flynn, who was recently pardoned by Donald Trump, shared a message encouraging the president to temporarily suspend the constitution

Donald Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, and multiple conservative lawyers are supporting the idea of the president declaring martial law to suspend the Constitution so that the military can hold a fresh election. The absurd suggestions have come at a time when Trump has continued to refuse to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, the projected winner of the 2020 presidential elections. 

General Mike Flynn, who was recently pardoned by Trump, retweeted a message on Twitter encouraging President Trump to "temporarily suspend the Constitution," impose martial law and "silence the destructive media." Conservative attorney Sidney Powell, who was recently removed from the Trump legal team, for propagating unfounded conspiracy theories of election interference also shared the post on the micro-blogging website. A similar suggestion was also made by a group led by the head of the Portage County TEA Party, which paid for a full page advertisement published on Tuesday, December 1, in the Washington Times newspaper calling for martial law and a new federal vote run by the military.

Shortly after these suggestions by the conservatives to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections, several social media took to Twitter to mock and denounce Republicans, some even called them pro-authoritarian. One user wrote: "The Cult of Trump is everywhere calling on the President of the United States to declare martial law, invalidate the election, and either hold a new one or declare himself the winner. No, this probably won’t happen, but it’s important to recognize this fascist mindset exists." Another said: "REPUBLICANS: Wearing masks is fascism. Health care is fascism. Sensible gun laws are fascism. "What about declaring martial law to invalidate an election which is, you know, ACTUAL fascism?" REPUBLICANS: Yeah no, that's fine."

A third wrote: "Trump's former national security adviser - who pleaded guilty to felony charges for lying to the FBI before being pardoned by Trump - has called for martial law to be imposed so that a new election can be held since Trump lost the actual one. Another day in Trumpocracy." Another said: "Michael Flynn is now calling on Trump to suspend the constitution, institute martial law, wipe out the results of the election, and have the military hold a new election. Tell me again why these people shouldn’t be in prison."

The newspaper ad featured in the Washington Times had an appeal by the Ohio non-profit We The People Convention (WTPC), which cited President Abraham Lincoln's suspension of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War as precedent. The ad said: "Then, as now, a President with courage and determination was needed to preserve the Union." The non-profit, in the advert, also claimed the "threat to our United States by the international and domestic socialist/communist left is much more serious than anything Lincoln or our nation has faced in its history—including the civil war."

The group's President Tom Zawistowski also released a statement claiming "massive, planned, illegal election fraud conducted by corrupt Democrat/Socialist Party operatives across our nation to steal our vote." The WTPC, however, has not provided any evidence to support its claims, which has been debunked by Trump's own Justice Department and other bipartisan election officials.