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OK, as an attorney,
as a political commentator,

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and frankly, as a former
White House official,

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I used to think I knew a lot

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about how America picks a president.

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I was wrong, I did not know.

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And this year,

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I've been doing some research
into some of the fine print

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and all the different things
in our constitution

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that we never talk about,

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and I've discovered some legal loopholes

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that shocked me,

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I guarantee will shock you,

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and could determine the way

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that the presidential election
of 2020 turns out.

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For instance, did you know
that under our constitution

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a presidential candidate
could actually lose the popular vote,

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fail to get a majority
in the electoral college,

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refuse to concede,

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manipulate hidden mechanisms
in our government

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and still get sworn in as the president
of the United States of America?

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That's a true fact.

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I know it sounds like some crazy
"House of Cards" episode,

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and I wish it was,

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because then we could just
change the channel,

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but I just described to you
a real-world, real-life possibility

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that could occur this year,
the year I'm talking, in 2020,

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or in some other year,

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if we don't fix some of these
glitches in our system.

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So if you think, though,

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that the American people's choice
in a US presidential election

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should actually be sworn in
to become president of the United States,

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please pay attention to this talk.

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I'm going to teach you
how to stop a coup, OK?

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Now, where to begin?

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Alright, how about this:

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It turns out that one of the main
safeguards of US democracy

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is not in the constitution at all.

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It's not in the law at all.

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It's actually just a little tradition,
it's a little custom.

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And yet, this one voluntary gesture

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is one of the main reasons

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that you almost never have riots
and bloodshed and strife

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after a US election.

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What I'm talking about
is a concession speech.

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OK, it's ironic,

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it's the one speech no presidential
candidate ever wants to give,

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and yet, it is that public address

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that is most important for the health

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and the well-being of our nation.

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It's that speech, you know,
when a presidential contender gives,

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it's after the advisers come
and the media tells them,

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"Look, you're not going
to get enough votes

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to be able to hit that magic number
of 270 electoral college votes.

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You're just not going to get there."

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At that moment --

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you don't think about this,

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but the fate of the entire republic

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is in the hands of a single politician

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and their willingness to walk out there

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and stand in front of their family
and stand in front of the cameras

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and stand in front of the whole nation

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and say, "I am conceding
the race, voluntarily.

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Thank you to my supporters.

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The other person has won now,
congratulations to them,

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let's unite behind them,
let's move on, let's be one country.

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God bless America."

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You've seen it a thousand times.

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Make no mistake,

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this is a remarkable tradition
in our country.

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Because at that moment,

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that candidate still has at her command

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a nationwide army of campaign activists,

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of die-hard partisans,

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tens of thousands of people.

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They could just as easily take up arms,

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take to the streets,

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they could do whatever they want to.

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But that concession speech
instantly demobilizes all of them.

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It says, "Hey, guys, stand down.

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Folks, it's over."

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Moreover, that concession speech

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helps the tens of millions of people
who voted for that person

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to accept the outcome.

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Acknowledge the winner,
however begrudgingly,

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and then just get up the next morning,

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go to work, go to school,

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maybe disappointed

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but not disloyal to America's government.

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And even more importantly,

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that concession speech
has a technical function

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in that it kind of allows
all the other stuff

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that our constitution requires
after the voting,

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and there are a bunch of steps like,

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you've got the electoral college
that has got to meet,

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you've got Congress
who's got to ratify this thing,

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you've got an inauguration to be had,

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all that stuff can just move ahead
on automatic pilot

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because after the concession speech,

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every subsequent step

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to either reinstate the president
or elevate a new president

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just happens on a rubber-stamp basis.

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The constitution requires it,
but it's a rubber stamp.

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But we sometimes forget,
candidates do not have to concede.

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There's nothing that makes them concede.

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It's just a norm in a year
in which nothing is normal.

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So what if a losing candidate
simply refuses to concede?

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What if there is no concession speech?

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Well, what could happen might terrify you.

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I think it should.

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First, to give you 
the background,

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let's make sure
we're on the same page,

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let me give you this analogy.

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Think about a presidential election
as a baseball game.

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The end of the ninth inning,

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whoever is ahead wins,
whoever is behind loses.

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That's baseball.

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But could you imagine 
a different world

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in which, in baseball,

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there were actually 13 innings,
or 14 innings, not just nine.

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But we just had a weird tradition.

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If you are behind in the ninth inning,

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you just come out and concede.

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Alright?

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So all those other innings don't matter.

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That's really how the presidential
elections work in America.

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Because the constitution
actually spells out

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two different sets of innings.

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You've got the popular election process
that everybody pays attention to.

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And then you've got
the elite selection process

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that everybody essentially ignores.

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But in a close election,

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if nobody concedes,

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the second invisible process,

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these extra innings if you will,

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they actually matter a whole lot.

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Let me explain.

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That first set of innings,
popular election,

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it's what you think about

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when you think about
the presidential election.

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It's the primaries,
the caucuses, the debates,

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the conventions, it's election night,

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it's all that stuff.

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Most of the time,
the loser on election night

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at that point just concedes.

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Why? "The American people have spoken."

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All that.

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But according to the constitution,
the game is technically not over.

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After the cameras go away,

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after the confetti's swept away,

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the constitution requires
this whole other set of innings.

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This elite selection process stuff,

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and this is all behind closed doors,

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it's among government officials.

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And this process goes from the end
of the vote counting in November,

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through December all the way
and then January.

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You just never think about it,

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because for so many generations,

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these extra innings haven't mattered much

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because the election-night
loser just concedes.

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So this other stuff is just a formality.

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Even in 2000,

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vice president Al Gore gave up

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as soon as the Supreme Court
ordered an end to the vote counting.

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Gore did not continue the fight
into the state legislatures,

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into the electoral college,

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into Congress,

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he didn't try to discredit
the results in the press.

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Frankly, he didn't send his supporters
out into the streets

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with protest signs

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or pitchforks or long guns.

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As soon as the court said
the vote count is done,

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he just conceded to George W. Bush.

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Because that's what we do,

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that's just kind of how
we do things around here.

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You don't fight in the extra innings.

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Until maybe 2020,

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when one major candidate is already saying

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he may not accept the results
of the vote counting.

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Curse you 2020.

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So what can happen instead?

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Instead of conceding,

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a losing candidate could launch
a ferocious fight to grab power anyway.

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Or to hold onto power anyway.

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In the courts, yes.

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But also in the state houses,
electoral college, even in Congress.

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They could file, for instance,
dozens of lawsuits

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attempting to block the counting
of millions of, like, mail-in ballots,

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saying they should all be thrown out,
they're all fraudulent.

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Then, they could demand

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that the states refuse
to certify the election

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because of all this alleged fraud,

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or interference from a foreign power.

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Or the loser's party could send
a rival slate of electors

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to the electoral college or to Congress,

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and say, "We're the real electors,"

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and create a whole situation with that.

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Any of this stuff could create such a mess

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in the electoral college and the Congress,

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that the whole matter just winds up
in front of the House of Representatives

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for the first time since the 1800s.

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Now, here's where it gets totally crazy.

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If the presidential election
winds up in the House of Representatives,

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they don't have to pay any attention
at all to the popular vote

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or the electoral vote.

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It's like the election never happened.

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And then it gets even crazier.

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The final tally in the House
is taken not by delegates

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but by delegation.

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In other words,

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individual congresspeople
don't get to vote.

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It's done by states.

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Now, get your head wrapped around this.

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In 2020, the majority of Americans
live in blue states,

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but there are more red states.

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So there's a possibility

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that the Republicans
in the House of Representatives

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could just anoint
their candidate to be president,

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even without the popular vote,

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or a majority in electoral college.

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That could happen.

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Now some people would call that outcome

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a perfectly legal,

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00:09:31,875 --> 00:09:34,434
perfectly constitutional coup

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against the very idea
of majority rule in the United States.

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That is possible under our constitution,

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and it can happen this year.

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So what can you do about it?

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OK now, keep in mind,

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if the margin of the victory
is so massive,

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it's truly massive,

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the losing candidate's political party
is going to walk away

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and just let their leader go down.

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Nobody is going to risk
a constitutional crisis

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to save somebody who is super unpopular.

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But if the race is close,

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all bets are off.

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And then the fight could continue
long past election night.

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You could be, you know,
trying to deal impact

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00:10:12,375 --> 00:10:14,976
this whole other process
you never heard of before.

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You're going to have to be lobbying,

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protesting, speaking out,
contacting lawmakers,

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a whole other process
you've never done before.

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So landing in this completely
unfamiliar scenario,

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what can you do?

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How are we supposed to act?

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What are we supposed to do
in this situation?

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There's basically
three things that matter.

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Number one, get informed.

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A number of progressive organizations
are already working hard

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00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,518
to warn Americans about this
growing threat to our democracy.

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Some organizations you could look into
and research for yourself:

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choosedemocracy.us,

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electiontaskforce.org,

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protectdemocracy.org,

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mobilize.us,

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allamericans.org,

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00:11:00,708 --> 00:11:02,434
civicalliance.com

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00:11:02,458 --> 00:11:05,643
and the Fight Back table at demos.org.

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All these groups are working on this.

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Now, on the right,
if that's your cup of tea,

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you could also check out
The Heritage Foundation

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or the Government
Accountability Institute.

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They are focused on voter fraud.

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But you've got to get informed,
no matter what side you're on.

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Also, number two,

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you've got to get loud.

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You've got to get loud.

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Situation like this, these days,
everybody is a media channel.

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You are the media.

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So use your own voice.

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And when you do, my advice:

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speak to universal American values,
not the partisan stuff, OK?

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Speak to the American values
that every American should be down with,

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no matter what party they're in.

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The idea that every voter counts

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and that every vote should be counted,

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that's an American value, period.

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The notion that the majority
should rule in America,

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that's an American value.

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The idea that an incumbent president

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should concede honorably and graciously

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and ensure a peaceful transfer of power,

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rather than trying to use
every trick in the book

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to hang on to power,

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that's an American value too.

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If you stick with those values,

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you're going to be heard
by a lot more people

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and help bring the country together.

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And lastly, sorry folks,
voting is not enough,

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You're going to have to get
active, get involved.

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You could join and support
with your money.

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Some existing organizations,
powerful groups,

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like the Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights,

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the ACLU,

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NAACP, Legal Defense Fund,

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Indivisible, ColorOfChange.org,

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these groups are going to be
fighting in the courts,

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fighting in Congress,

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to try to make sure
that we have a fair outcome.

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Those groups could use
your help and your donations.

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But if it gets to the point

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where you feel

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that you have to take it to the streets,

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that you're going to have to go outside

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and demonstrate and march and protest,

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please do it peacefully.

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This is not just philosophy or morality.

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A lot of studies have shown

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that it's the peaceful protests

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that are more successful
at challenging these would-be dictators

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and reversing coup attempts.

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It's the peaceful ones, why?

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Because when the protests turn violent,

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all that chaos and carnage
actually chases away supporters.

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So rather than demonstrations
getting bigger,

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and the protests getting bigger,

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they start to shrink.

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Then the government looks reasonable
when it cracks down.

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So it's actually a lot better

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to follow the guidance
of the late great Gene Sharp.

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Now he has written beautifully and well

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about how strategically
you can roll back a coup

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just using very smart,
very disciplined, very nonviolent protest.

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And a lot of his best ideas,
and people have been influenced by that,

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are available in a new guidebook called,

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"Hold the Line."

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You can look it up,

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it's called "Hold the Line,
The Guide to Defending Democracy."

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You can get that at holdthelineguide.com.

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And that can give you
a real good framework

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to move forward in a smart, peaceful way

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if you feel that you've got
to take it to the streets.

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Now look,

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I know all this stuff is overwhelming,

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and I've got to admit,
some of these steps may not be enough.

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A truly rogue president

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could call on private armed militia

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to try to intimidate lawmakers
into keeping him or her in power.

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Or they could just abuse
their emergency powers

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and try to stay in office indefinitely.

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So we've got some real
problems in our system.

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The best way to stop a coup

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is to update and strengthen
our democratic system

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as soon as this election is over.

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Maybe we need to rethink,
reimagine or just get rid of

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this whole electoral college,
extra inning thing in the first place.

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I know for sure

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we've got to do a better job
of protecting voter rights,

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of prosecuting voter intimidation

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and also making sure
we've got the technology

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that nobody needs to be afraid
of voter fraud.

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00:15:00,708 --> 00:15:03,143
These are the steps
that we're going to have to take

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to make sure that we have a democracy
and the democracy endures.

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Because never forget this:

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in the long sweep of human history,

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a democratic republic

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is the rarest form of government on earth.

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Democracies are fragile.

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Democracies can fail.

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And what citizens do or fail to do
in a moment of crisis

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can determine the final fate

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of government of, by and for the people.

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So let's do our best, vote, but this time,

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we've got to stay vigilant and active,

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even after the ballots have been counted.

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We've got to stay active
all the way through

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to inauguration day.

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But I want to say to you,

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I will support the winner
of a free and fair election

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no matter which candidate wins,

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and I will oppose any so-called winner

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who prevails by twisting the process
beyond recognition.

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Because any American should be willing
to concede an election,

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but no American should concede

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the core principles of democracy itself.

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Thank you.