Can a President of the United States that Lost the Election Be Forced to Leave Office?
The Answer is Yes and No
The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution has the only relevant comments on such but does not actually go into what happens if the president actually decides not to step down. It's never happened before but never before have we had a president that shows as little concern for the constitution as we have in the current president.
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
As can be seen there is nothing in the amendment that deals with a president that refuses to leave office if he loses the election. It's simply has never been done and there never even been a thought that it might happen.
What would be required would be for the house and senate to agree to seat the new president and remove the old president.
This hypothesis being highly unlikely with our currently divided government. There are simply no signs that the Democratic Party would remove a current president of their party to put into place a president from the other party. If it was reversed would the Republicans replace a republican with a member of the other party?
At this time in history doing the right thing doesn't seem to be very high on the radar of either political party.
I realize that this is nothing more than a thought from the "Twilight Zone," but simply what if it was to happen.
Would anyone today other than the rabid supporters of the president that was not seated even care? The majority of the people in the United States don't even vote. Of those that do vote many often just set with their hands in their rear pockets if they don't like their party's candidate.
Can the above happen, absolutely!
Likely no if you give the benefit of the doubt to anyone that runs for the office of the president being an honorable American that will do the right thing for the country when it comes to it.
Published by Oldecam
Old and getting older, newsman and ex actor and cartoonist.Been in the entertainment business since born. View profile
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