'Sad': MAGA buried over plot to cook up 'sham national emergency' to usurp elections

President Donald Trump's supporters handed him a 17-page draft proposal on how to declare a national emergency to seize control of state election administration, according to reports on Thursday.

Under the order, Trump would claim that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election, which would be used as justification for Trump to dictate how states run their elections in the midterm — presumably imposing by executive fiat some of the provisions in the GOP-backed SAVE America Act, which places several new restrictions and identification requirements on voting.

The report triggered immediate reaction from officials on social media, with many saying this scheme is illegal on its face — and would hit a brick wall in the courts if Trump dared to try it.

"We’ve been raising the alarm for weeks about Trump’s attacks on our elections — now we’re getting details about how they might be planning to do it," wrote Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). "Let’s be clear: there’s no national emergency. This is a plot to interfere with the will of voters."

"There’s no national emergency exception to Art 1, Sec 4 of the Constitution," wrote Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). "States regulate elections unless Congress passes law. That’s why trump desperately wants to pass the save act to suppress voting. Courts will slap trump down just like they did with his illegal tariffs."

"Yet more nonsense," wrote columnist James Surowiecki. "Declaring a national emergency does not allow the president to steal the power over elections that the Constitution gives to the states and to Congress. The president was quite deliberately given no power over election rules. Trump can't take it."

"Sad. And pathetic," wrote activist Amy Siskind in response to the news. "See you in November!"

"The Constitution gives STATES power over election law with oversight from CONGRESS," wrote the account for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). "Notice who's missing? The president. Trump may try to cook up a sham national emergency to try to seize control of elections but it won't stand up to scrutiny."