Fascist Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is focusing his final week of campaigning on efforts to undermine and discredit the vote that culminates on Nov. 5 to set the stage for an unconstitutional and undemocratic effort to overturn the result if he loses. .

Trump signaled the start of that effort during remarks at a rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday. He spoke directly to House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was on the dais with him: “I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right?” and added: “Our little secret is to make a big impact . He and I have a little secret – we’ll tell you what it’s all about when the race is over.”

In a statement to New York TimesJohnson said: “By definition, a secret should not be shared – and I don’t intend to share this one.”

The likely role of the House of Representatives would be to intervene in the post-election period. There are three key dates: December 17, when members of the Electoral College are to meet in each state to cast their votes; December 25, when Electoral College votes must be submitted to Congress; and January 6, 2025, when Congress meets in joint session to certify the results.

The first two meetings fall during the period in which Republicans would continue to control the House and Johnson would still be Speaker, regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 5 congressional races. If any states don’t certify their voters by Dec. 25, Johnson could try to invalidate their electoral votes entirely, though a President’s power to do so has never been asserted before.

Trump has already tried to cast doubt on the validity of the election in several of the so-called “battleground” states, the most closely contested according to pre-election polls.

In Pennsylvania, the most populous of the seven battleground states with 19 electoral votes, Trump published a series of posts on his social media site, Truth Social, claiming on Wednesday: “Pennsylvania is cheating and being caught, at levels rarely seen on a large scale. forward.” He continued Thursday: “We caught them cheating at sea in Pennsylvania. They need to report and ACT, NOW! … Who would have ever thought our Country was this CORRUPT?”