‘Grind the country to a halt’: Democrat urges national strike if Trump meddles in midterms | Democrats
Democratic senator Ruben Gallego has suggested that if Donald Trump tries to sabotage the midterm elections, Americans respond with a general strike that would “bring the country to a halt.”
Earlier this week, the US president called on Republicans to “take over” and “nationalize” voting in at least 15 unspecified locations, repeating his baseless claims that the election was plagued with widespread fraud.
On Thursday, Gallego, an Arizona senator and Iraq war veteran, warned that Trump might try to interfere in the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and urged citizens to fight fire with fire.
“We need to prepare for the most extreme scenario, the worst-case scenario; they’re either trying to seize the ballot boxes while the votes are being counted, they’re trying to stop the count, they’re trying to surround the polling places, whatever it is,” he said. History Court podcast with political historians Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz.
“We have to make sure that we have a definitive response to what I believe should be a true national strike, so if they do this, if they try to overthrow our democracy, if you’re aligned with democracy, don’t go to work. If you’re a pilot, don’t go. If you drive a train, don’t go. If you’re a teacher, don’t go. We’ll bring the country to a standstill.”
Gallego, who defeated Trump loyalist Kari Lake in 2024, has gained a reputation as an outspoken speaker who sometimes uses profane language to take the fight to Republicans. He continued: “We will not continue to work and grow the world’s largest economy in exchange for giving up democracy.
“If we have to destroy the stock market to save democracy, we need to accept that, and more importantly, the world and the richest and most powerful people in this country need to understand that this is a real possibility. There is no economic stability without democratic stability. If you destroy our democratic stability, we destroy economic stability.”
Trump’s push to expand federal control over elections comes as his administration steps up pressure on several Democratic-led states to turn over voter data and the justice department sues nearly two dozen states over voter rolls. Last week, the FBI searched an elections office in Georgia’s Fulton County for records related to the 2020 election.
Trump floated the idea on Monday nationalization of elections in a podcast interview with former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, and a day later he told reporters: “The state is the agent of the federal government in elections. I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do these things anyway.”
His words were echoed by former Trump adviser and influential right-wing commentator Steve Bannon. Bannon repeated false claims that people living in the US illegally were voting in large numbers, saying on the War Room podcast on Tuesday: “You’re so right, we’re going to surround the polls with ICE in November.”
Federal law prohibits the president from sending military troops to any location where a general or special election is being held, and some states make it a crime to carry a firearm at or near polling places. Immigration enforcement can cause both U.S. citizens and legal residents to stay home for fear of detention or racial profiling.
Asked about Bannon’s comments on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: he told reporters: “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be near polling places in November — but I can tell you that I have not heard the president discuss any official plans to put ICE outside polling places.”
Democrats, long criticized for failing to confront Trump’s threat to democracy, condemned the president’s latest remarks. But none have gone as far as Gallego, who has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
He told the Historical Tribunal: “We need to show that this is not acceptable. Fundamentally, you can’t go to the levels where we invade other countries to do these kinds of autocratic things. I mean, they can’t. They can’t stand it. The American people can’t stand it.”
“Even now, they won’t stand for the fact that ICE agents are wandering around our neighborhoods without permission. Now, imagine what would happen to the American people if a bunch of ICE agents went to different polling places and tried to stop the count. The backlash is going to be very, very strong.”
