WEBINAR: Post-Election Insurrection: The Civil Unrest in the Coming Months

National Security experts discussed worrisome scenarios of post-election disruption in the aftermath of the presidential election November 3^rd at a recent Center for Security Policy election seminar.

Michael Anton, Former Trump national security official and author of The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return joined Center for Security Policy experts J. Michael Waller and Kyle Shideler to discuss.

Anton looked at troublesome partisan rhetoric from the Biden camp which invoked the specter of the military “hauling Trump from office,” and examined the results of the cynically-named Transition Integrity Project wargame -which proposed a scenario in which the Biden camp refused to concede despite clearly losing in the electoral college, called for massive street protests and left open the possibility of military intervention. That report, which was then leaked to the media, was followed by a joint letter from two former military leaders to the Joint Chiefs urging that the military prepare to remove the President from office. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley later publicly asserted that the military will play no role in the election.

Asked about the curious decision to leak news of the wargame and its controversial scenarios to the press, Michael Waller referred to the move as “pre-propaganda”, a technique meant to acclimatize an audience for actions to which they are mentally unprepared to accept. In this case by exposing Americans to a potential post-election scenario at odd with constitutional norms.

Discussing the role of planned post-election disruptions and protests by groups like Antifa, Anton noted that the threats of street action carried with it a tone of “blackmail,” and the intention to exhaust everyday Americans into acquiescing into extreme demands. He noted the presence of signs in BLM-led protests asking, “Are you tired yet?”

Waller pointed out that many professional agitators and revolutionary cadres spawned out of the 1960s “New Left”, had waited their whole lives for an opportunity to overthrow of the government, and saw the relatively weak Biden as their best opportunity, thus leading such revolutionary luminaries as former Communist Party USA vice presidential candidate Angela Davis to publicly endorse Biden. Kyle Shideler noted that anarchist trainer Lisa Fithian had urged listeners in a web training to “fight for the enemy you want.”

Discussing the role played by Antifa and similar anarchist and Marxist groups, the three panelists agreed on the inherent tension at play between the Democratic party establishment’s corporate interests and groups with anarchist and Marxist ideologies. Anton noted that the radical left would certainly attempt to staff the Biden administration to bring in the most radical personnel but called it an “inherently unstable” coalition. Waller noted that many corporations sought to use donations to radical groups like BLM as a kind of “lamb’s blood”-referring to the biblical story of Passover- hoping to be spared damage, while others, particularly in social media and IT genuinely held extreme beliefs and/or sought to appease activist staff.

Turning to the question of what President Trump should do to address a genuine insurrection during a contested election scenario, Anton stressed the importance of having lawyers prepared to litigate to protect election integrity. Both Anton and Waller emphasized the President’s fundamental responsibility to secure the American people, with Anton warning that leadership in “anarchic jurisdictions” would make that task far more difficult if they refused to cooperate with federal authorities.

Waller noted the dangerous tendency of those political leaders aiding rioters by hamstringing police and providing areas for staging of protests and riots and refusing to enforce laws.