Trump's Refusal To Sign Illinois Anti-Coup Pledge Is A Red Flag
Donald Trump's refusal to sign a voluntary pledge in Illinois not to overthrow the government is red flag warning about his attack on democracy.
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Trump Refuses To Sign Pledge That He Won’t Attempt To Overthrow The Government
In Illinois, there is an old voluntary McCarthy-era pledge that candidates submit with their paperwork to be on the primary ballot promising not to attempt to overthrow the government. President Joe Biden signed the pledge. Gov, Ron DeSantis signed the pledge. Several other Republicans in Illinois signed the pledge.
Donald Trump did not.
Under Illinois law, presidential candidates wanting to be on the state’s March 19th primary ballot had to turn in their nominating petitions to the State Board of Elections on Thursday or Friday, and the loyalty oath is a time-honored part of that process.
A WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times analysis of those petitions found Biden and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis both signed the oath — as did several lower-tier Trump acolytes in Illinois, but not Trump.
Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Cheung defended not signing the pledge, “President Trump will once again take the oath of office on January 20th, 2025, and will swear ‘to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
This is the same oath of office that Trump is currently arguing in court has no legal power or authority, and that the president is not bound to in any way.
Biden campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler said over the weekend, “For the entirety of our nation’s history, presidents have put their hand on the Bible and sworn to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States – and Donald Trump can’t bring himself to sign a piece of paper saying he won’t attempt a coup to overthrow our government. We know he’s deadly serious, because three years ago today he tried and failed to do exactly that.”
Trump is telling the country what he intends to do, but he is being enabled by a corporate media that willingly refuses to discuss the threat.
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