Trump Initiates Lawsuit... 'Interregnum in Crisis' Descends into Chaos

Demand for Recount Citing Mail-In Voting... Feared 'Daeseonbulbok' Realized
Concerns Grow Over Uncontrollable Chaos Different from 2000 Presidential Election

On the 4th, citizens are watching the vote counting situation of the U.S. presidential election in the Seoul Station waiting room. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The United States is slipping into a 'crisis interregnum' following the November 3 election. The interregnum refers to the power vacuum period between Election Day and the inauguration of the next president. With no president-elect confirmed even a day after the voting ended, Republican candidate President Donald Trump has pulled out the recount and lawsuit cards, citing mail-in ballots, turning the long-feared 'refusal to accept election results' scenario into reality.

If this continues, concerns are mounting that a different kind of chaos from the 2000 election, which went all the way to the Supreme Court after a nail-biting close race, will unfold. There are also views that this could throw not only the U.S. but the entire world into an uncontrollable state.

Trump Targets Rust Belt States with Legal Battles

On the day after the election, November 4 (local time), President Trump launched legal battles targeting key battleground states. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, known as the 'Rust Belt,' he filed lawsuits to halt vote counting, while in Wisconsin he demanded a recount. He also filed a lawsuit to stop vote counting in another battleground state, Georgia.

In Wisconsin, the margin between the two candidates is only about 0.6 percentage points. According to Wisconsin law, a recount can be requested if the vote margin is within 1%. Less than a day after announcing that the case would go to the (federal) Supreme Court in the early morning, the action was put into motion.

President Trump was leading by double digits in these states early in the count, but now he has been overtaken by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in Wisconsin and Michigan. Having already lost the battleground state of Arizona, Trump appears to have judged that defeat is inevitable if he loses the Rust Belt as well, prompting him to 'shake up the game.' Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, told reporters that day, "We are preparing to challenge the election results in some states," and claimed, "The legitimate vote count will show President Trump ahead."

Concerns that President Trump might refuse to concede and engage in legal battles if the election looks increasingly unfavorable to him had been raised even before the election. Biden’s camp has also expressed willingness to fight in court. Bob Bauer, legal counsel for the Biden campaign, anticipated such moves, saying, "We are fully prepared. He (President Trump) will lose."

Even if the vote counting is completed with difficulty, there is a high probability that the recount chaos of 2000, when the winner was decided by the Supreme Court, will be repeated. The interregnum period?from Election Day to the next president’s inauguration?is entering an unpredictable phase where no one can guarantee what will happen in the U.S. The 538 electors chosen nationwide through this election will officially cast their votes in each state capital on December 14.

In the 2000 election, recorded as one of the most intense in history, Republican candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore had a vote difference of only a few hundred votes in Florida, and a fierce legal battle ensued, taking five weeks to confirm the winner. The Independent reported, "The U.S. presidential election is slipping into chaos," warning that "the whole world could face an uncontrollable situation."

"Dangerous Interregnum" - Growing Chaos

In particular, this election is expected to escalate into a different kind of chaos from the 2000 turmoil. At that time, Gore accepted defeat gracefully after the Supreme Court halted the recount. However, there is a question mark over whether President Trump will follow the same path. If he refuses to accept the election results and tries to wield constitutional powers as the sitting president during the interregnum, the chaos in the U.S. could worsen significantly.

The Bulwark, in an article titled "Dangerous Interregnum," referenced President Herbert Hoover’s actions during the 1932 election, stating, "If defeated President Trump does not use his final term for the country like former President Hoover, the division in the U.S. will deepen." At that time, Hoover was overwhelmingly defeated by Democratic candidate Franklin Roosevelt by 472 to 59 electoral votes. However, after conceding, Hoover obstructed Roosevelt’s policies as the incumbent president, causing disruptions in the lawful transfer of power. It was literally a situation of 'two presidents.'

The Bulwark also mentioned that the inauguration date was moved up to January because of this, expressing concern that "if President Trump loses the election, chaos before the inauguration is inevitable." In such a case, amid extreme confrontation between the two camps, chaos and division will continue, leading to the worst-ever turmoil across the economy, society, international relations, and diplomatic security.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.