How do you know that? Isn't that such uncharted territory that it's impossible to determine how public opinion would evolve if Trump refused to leave the White House, and had enough Secret Service and Pentagon flunkies to hole up in there for a few weeks? The legitimacy of the presidency is something we the people grant, if the perception is there, right? I'm sure that Trump would rather be president of some states than none, but I mean... there are tens of millions of people who still genuinely believe that Trump is the rightful president, and believing or pretending like Trump was wrongfully denied a second term is literally the only litmus test for holding public office in the GOP. Difference between them and us? We are objectively correct. But does that really matter? Maybe only insomuch as being a motivating force, and I really, really, realllllllly don't wanna have to experimentally test whether or not the left is too soft to riot in the streets, should the situation call for it. I'm interested to see how mobilized the Trumpists are during the midterms for poll watching/intimidating, but I'm 100% sure Trump intends to whip them into a frenzy by the end of 2024. He could even legitimately win the election and just decide to have some fun, like, in December of '24: "IF SLEEPY JOE LOST THE ELECTION THEN WHY IS HE SLEEPING IN THE WHITE HOUSE??? MAYBE WE WILL HAVE TO KICK HIM OUT OURSELVES!!!". Especially if DoJ indicts, he'll go for broke. And DoJ has to indict. Making decisions based on the fear of violence from Trumpists is letting Trumpism win. I breathed like 10,000 sighs of relief in the early AM of Jan. 7th, when they finished certifying the election. Some relief was because, yes, our democracy survived, but a lot of relief came from the fact that I wouldn't have to travel to DC on the 20th and attempt to extract Trump from the white house myself, because he'd just shot his shot, and it failed. I guess that's another big difference between me and the Trumpists: I'm not jonesing for violence, but we also probably can't defeat fascism by politely asking the fascists to stop fasc'ing. In the meantime, it's time to talk about letting an international team of election workers help us out for the next several election cycles. The rubber stamp wouldn't sway any Trumpists, of course, but it will help out "independents" and foreign perceptions of our democracy's health. edit: btw, I suspect that Trump used a burner phone on Jan. 6, and ordered the deletions of J6 records, including texts. Probably tried to order the deletion of the order to delete records. And DoJ is probably going for Trump, there's no other good reason to seek Cipollone. Also; Alex Jones. lolI wish it were openly acknowledged that Trump would have never been able to retain the US Presidency no matter what the outcome of Jan 6.