After the end of the presidential election, a "little secret" will be revealed, said Republican candidate Donald Trump, speaking to supporters at the Madison Square Garden sports complex in New York, the New York Times reports.
During the speech, the politician turned to Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, who was among the audience, and said, addressing him: "I think with our little secret we will really succeed in the House of Representatives, won't we?".
"Our little secret has a big impact. He and I have a little secret — we will tell you what it is when the race is over," Trump added.
The Republican uttered these phrases with a grin and caused a storm of indignation among Democrats, who now fear the worst, writes NYT. According to the publication, the most disturbing option suggests that Johnson, who, along with Trump, did not recognize the results of the last presidential election, will now prevent the approval of the results of the current vote if Kamala Harris wins.
Politico also notes that Trump's "ominous comments" may be a hint of an intention to achieve a "controversial election" procedure. We are talking about the mechanism provided for by the 12th Amendment to The U.S. Constitution. According to him, if none of the candidates gets the majority of votes of the electoral college, the new Congress, which will have to take the oath on January 3, will elect the president and vice president, with the House of Representatives - the head of state, and the Senate — his running mate. A simple majority of the members of the House, 26 votes of the state delegations, appoints a new president.
In 1824, none of the candidates received a majority of electoral votes, which led to a conditional election. The House of Representatives elected President John Adams, who received only 84 electoral votes, although the leader of the race was Andrew Jackson with 99 votes.
The results of the Electoral College are approved by the vice president, not the speaker of the House of Representatives, but Johnson can still influence the outcome of events, for example, by putting pressure on state election commissions, the NYT reports. However, the experts interviewed by the newspaper doubted that he would be able to enlist sufficient support for this.
The NYT asked Johnson what the phrase "little secret" meant, to which he replied: "Speaking of secrets, Harris knew that (US President Joe) Biden was physically and mentally handicapped, and kept it a secret. The FBI knew that Hunter Biden's laptop was real and kept it a secret. They also knew that the collusion with Russia was fake, and they also kept it a secret."
However, the media were not interested in these secrets, as they did not want to harm the Democratic Party, "and now they care about it?", the speaker asked in response and refused to comment further.
Experts interviewed by the NYT suggested that Trump's phrase means nothing, and he just likes to create a stir in the ranks of opponents. Or, the interlocutors of the publication continued, it was about the so-called telemarketing with Republican congressmen.
The presidential elections in the United States will be held in a week, on November 5, RBC reminds.