Sen. Ruben Gallego would call for national strike if Trump tried to mess with November election

PHOENIX — Arizona U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego stated that he would call for a nationwide boycott if President Donald Trump did anything to try to mess with or stop the November election.

The Democratic senator clarified that he would only call for the national strike in certain circumstances.

“I’m talking about if he goes and uses law enforcement to stop the vote,” Gallego told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos on Wednesday. “To go and obtain the ballot boxes, refuses to observe the election.”

Trump previously suggested wanting to nationalize U.S. elections instead of having them run by individual states, as designed under the Constitution, according to The Associated Press.

Gallego noted that nationalizing the vote is something that would need to be done through Congress and the Senate.

“That’s the will of the people,” Gallego added. “I may object to it depending on what it is.”

What other circumstances would Sen. Ruben Gallego call a national strike?

The senator specified that he would only call for the boycott when “extreme measures” are needed.

“Them passing different types of voter ID laws is not the response that you have to an extreme measure like that,” Gallego said.

He added that even if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were put in front of voting centers, that wouldn’t meet the moment either.

“I don’t think you should have ICE in front of polling places. I think it’s going to really intimidate a lot of citizens, including Latinos (which) we have a big population of in Arizona,” Gallego said. “But does that rise to the moment of a national strike? No.”

Gallego emphasized Trump trying to stop the election is one of the only actions that would constitute the national strike.

“It could be trying to force the … (stop) … of counting the votes if things aren’t going his way,” Gallego explained. “He could send national guard to seize the ballots instead of being processed.”

According to Gallego, the president messing with the November election is not as far fetched as some may think.

“We have to consider the fact that this man is doing a lot of things that point to the fact that he may try to mess with the vote,” Gallego said.

As far as the national strike itself, Gallego said that it would be asking everyone who wants to participate — excluding essential personnel like first responders and hospital workers — to stay home, not work and not shop.

“I’m just asking every citizen to react in a peaceful way,” Gallego said. “But make sure that we bring the economy and slow it down to the point where the president and his supporters are going to have to decide what is important to this country, the economy or democracy.”

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