Retired appeals court judge Michael Luttig warns in The New Republic that Trump and his MAGA allies are preparing to subvert the upcoming midterm elections and could attempt a decisive move to seize power on January 3, 2027. Luttig accuses many House Republicans of abandoning constitutional principles and swearing fealty to Trump, and urges them to publicly refuse to assist any scheme to 'steal' the vote. He invokes Abraham Lincoln's call to 'disenthrall' from destructive political dogmas and warns that the nation must act to preserve democracy.
Former Conservative Appeals Court Judge Warns Republicans Are Preparing To 'Steal' Midterms, Predicts Risk Of Another Jan. 6
(Susan Walsh/AP photo)
Michael Luttig, a conservative federal appeals court judge appointed by George H.W. Bush who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals from 1991 to 2006, published a blistering column in The New Republic titled 'The Final Battle for America's Democracy.' In the essay, Luttig warns that former President Donald Trump and his allies in the MAGA movement are preparing to subvert or nullify legitimate midterm results — and that this threat could culminate on January 3, 2027.
A Preplanned Strategy Since January 6, 2021
Luttig argues that plans to challenge and discard votes have been in motion since the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. He contends that many House Republicans have abandoned longstanding constitutional principles and party ideals in favor of loyalty to Trump and a narrow partisan victory, which he warns could bring about another attempt to overturn certified election outcomes.
'If we Americans are to save our democracy from the forty-seventh president and his MAGA Republican Party, we must disenthrall ourselves from our political bondage to Donald Trump and MAGA,' Luttig writes, invoking Abraham Lincoln's 1863 admonition that 'we must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.'
A Call To Action For House Republicans
Luttig urges House Republicans to publicly pledge, well before November 3, that they will not assist any effort by Trump and congressional allies — he names Speaker Johnson among those he warns about — to 'steal' the midterm elections or otherwise subvert the will of voters. He frames this as a last chance to prevent a constitutional crisis and preserve democratic norms.
Reaction From Trump And Supporters
Shortly after the column appeared, Trump addressed supporters at the final night of his midterm event in Dallas and asked the crowd to raise their right hands, pledge to vote on November 3, and — according to multiple reports — to 'try to cheat like hell like they do.' The remark drew swift condemnation online, with critics calling the moment evidence of cultlike devotion among some Trump loyalists.
Luttig closes his column with a stark warning: 'The writing is already on the wall, Republicans.' His piece blends a legal perspective with an urgent political plea: that elected officials put the Constitution and the public interest above partisan loyalty if American democracy is to withstand this challenge.
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