Trump Wants To "Nationalize" The November Midterms. Only One Thing Stands In His Way: The Constitution

By Alvin H. Green IV 

Courtesy Getty Images

In a podcast interview with the former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, President Donald Trump has called for the federal government to take over the way elections are run and operated in 15 unspecified places. Thankfully, that is currently illegal.

According to Article One, Section Four of the Constitution, it is illegal for the federal government to operate or interfere with elections, as state legislatures hold the power to determine how congressional elections are held. It is also currently illegal for the President to deploy troops, ICE agents included, at places currently holding a general or special election. It is unknown how this law would change if elections were done by the federal government, but according to an article by The Guardian, there is the fear that minorities would stay away from elections if there is the chance they could be attacked, arrested, or racially profiled.

“[He] just wants to rig the election,” said Korinne Hay, a First-year Journalism major from Northern Virginia. “Over half of the country is sick of his nonsense, and he knows that, so he’s trying to consolidate his power with a rigged election.” Korinne went on to say that it was “...classic dictator s**t.”

Trump himself has stated he will only accept the Midterm results if they are “honest”. It is important to remember that the last time Trump deemed an election fraudulent, around 2,500 of his supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent the election from being ratified. There is also the potential threat of Trump using the national surveillance agencies (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.) to spread more misinformation about the election than ever before. 

After Trump’s narrow win in the 2024 Election and how the country has been handled after the inauguration, the Administration is right to be skeptical about their chances. An article by the Independent said that two republican operatives are especially concerned about fighting for seats in Alaska, Iowa, Georgia, and Ohio. Don Bacon, a Republican Rep from Nebraska, warned his colleagues to stay on message about the border and inflation.

“It’s not surprising that [the Republicans] are concerned about winning,” said Brandon Brown, a First-Year Criminal Justice major. “It is difficult for your party to get elected by the people if your party is about screwing over the people.” 

The democrats have also gotten some big victories lately that could foreshadow a potential midterm sweep, with the elections of Democrat Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor of NYC, as well as the California redistricting proposal heavily benefiting the Democrats. And most recently (as of the time of writing), Democrat Taylor Rehmet was elected as the Representative of Texas’s notoriously conservative Fort Worth district.

We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.