After months of claiming Donald Trump was a threat to democracy who would override the will of the people, a prominent New Hampshire progressive wants the president-elect prevented from taking office.
Louise Spencer and her Kent Street Coalition are well known in Democratic circles, working on behalf of candidates like U.S. Rep.-elect Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) and defeated Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joyce Craig.
In an op-ed for the Concord Monitor, representatives of the organization warned, “To put it starkly, if Trump and the MAGA Republicans win in November, the American Experiment will come to an end.”
And Spencer repeatedly said during the campaign that “Trump is a wanna-be despot and an existential threat to democracy.”
Now that Trump and the GOP have won control of the White House and U.S. Senate, and are likely to hold the U.S. House, Spencer is speaking out. She’s posting messages by national activists who want to see the winner of Tuesday’s election prevented from taking office.
Spencer posted a statement from legal activist and frequent MSNBC guest Glenn Kirschner.
“In the event we remain loyal to the text of the Constitution, an insurrectionist who previously took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution is disqualified from holding office unless Congress votes to remove the disability. Trump IS an adjudicated insurrectionist. Ergo …”
Does she mean “ergo,” Trump should not be sworn in? Spencer declined to respond to requests for comment. However, she also posted this from anti-Trump podcaster Jack Hopkins.
“This is no longer about an election; it’s now purely a national security threat of the highest magnitude this country or its intelligence agencies have ever faced before… If there is anyone with the balls to do the right thing, they will refuse to swear in Donald Trump in January.”
Spencer also posted messages claiming Trump is an “insurrectionist” and, therefore, ineligible to take the oath of office, and she made it clear how she feels about New Hampshire Republicans who supported Trump.
“To those that [sic] normalized Trump, to those who sane-washed him, to those who engaged in “both-sideism”, to those who declared Trump unfit & then announced their support for him: you are cowards & complicit. I hope we live into a time when history will condemn you,” Spencer wrote.
“Looking at you, Chris Sununu and Kelly Ayotte especially.”
The sudden reversal on the issue of defending democracy comes in the wake of an election that Trump won handily, carrying both the popular and Electoral College votes. He also had widespread support among a diverse group of voters, including the support of about a third of voters of color.
Calls for Trump to be barred from taking office are also inspiring cries of “hypocrisy” from Granite State Republicans. And given the two assassination attempts Trump has faced already — not to mention news that the Iranian regime is also trying to kill him — some say attacking the outcome of a free and fair election feeds the extremism that could lead to violence.
Goodlander, who served in the Biden administration and campaigned heavily on the need to protect democracy, did not respond to questions about whether Trump should be sworn in as president.
