No Evidence Trump Ordered Military Takeover
The Claim
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to commit “takedowns” of cities and people that do not support him.
News posted on
Emerging story
The claim went viral in the days leading up to President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. It was shared thousands of times, even with a variation allegedly written by “Q” of Qanon.
Misbar’s Analysis
These posts are incorrect for several reasons. While Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act before, he has not invoked it then or now. The Insurrection Act allows, in a very narrow scope, the President to send troops to states “in the defense of constitutional rights.”
Many have called the Capital riot an attempted coup, leading 10 former Pentagon chiefs to warn that if Trump were to use the military to enforce his presidency it would be “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional.” However, following talk of invoking the 25th Amendment and subsequent impeachment, Trump released a speech in which he said that he will support a “smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power” to the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump’s press release did not include the word “concede,” as the viral post states, but that does not mean that he is planning a military takeover of the United States. We rate this claim as false.
