Kathrine Frich
Nobody stands in the president’s way if he reaches for the “football”
When a powerful leader suffers a heavy loss at the ballot box, the next two years rarely stay quiet.
Instead of backing down, bruised politicians often double down on the powers they still hold.
Now, a prominent specialist is warning that the final stretch of this presidency could take a terrifying turn.
Fears of nuclear escalation
According to the Irish Star, psychologist Dr. John Gartner is sounding the alarm over what President Donald Trump might do during the last two years of his second term.
After Republicans lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in last week’s midterm elections, Trump swapped out White House Chief of Staff Susie Whiles for loyal hardliner Stephen Miller.
Rather than working with the incoming Democratic majority, the president hinted he would block their plans by calling himself “Mr. Veto.”
Foreign policy is raising even darker fears. Before the midterms, Washington sent a third aircraft carrier toward Iran, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested the president could order a nuclear strike on the country, the Irish Star reported.
Speaking with Joanna Coles on The Daily Beast podcast, Gartner shared that same worry and warned of what would be the first atomic attack since the US bombed Nagasaki in August 1945.
“Hell hath no fury like a malignant narcissist scorned. I think we’re now in the third act of the tragedy and I think we’re in more danger now than we’ve ever been,” Gartner told The Daily Beast podcast.
He then made a stark prediction: “He’s going to act out in ways that are destructive to show his power and dominance, and to gain a sadistic sense of pleasure that he gets from destruction. I think that he is going to drop a nuclear bomb on Iran. I think this is going to happen and so I think people really need to be prepared for that.”
Complete political gridlock
Gartner pointed out that nobody stands in the president’s way if he reaches for the “football,” the nickname for the Presidential Emergency Satchel carried near the commander-in-chief at all times, alongside a code card known as “The Biscuit,” according to the Irish Star.
“He has complete control of the military and the president has complete control of the football. He has control over the justice department. We know the Supreme Court gives him pretty much a pass on everything. No-one is going to be able to stop him,” Gartner said.
At home, the psychologist expects two years of total gridlock before the next presidential vote.
“I don’t think anyone can contain him. I don’t think there is a strategy that will work. I think he is going to do what he’s going to do and he’s going to reap maximum chaos, maximum destruction, maximum confusion,” Gartner said, as quoted by the Irish Star.
He added that Democratic celebrations over winning Congress will quickly hit a wall inside the Oval Office.
“So they will pass 100 brilliant bills, none of which will become law, because he will veto literally everything they pass just to stymy them, just to harm them, just so they have nothing to run on,” Gartner concluded.
