The stakes are high this coming Election Day.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, alongside Democrats of all stripes, have repeatedly warned about the potential consequences of putting former President Donald Trump in the White House a second time.
As much as he has tried to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a 900-page blueprint for a complete overhaul of the federal government, Trump is inextricably linked to the plan.
A second Trump presidency could bring about all manner of disruption to American life: Project 2025 calls for the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Education, for abortion to be banned nationwide and for thousands of government jobs to be reclassified and filled with Trump loyalists.
But there are troubling consequences to Trump losing, as well — at least, according to him.
Here are the things Trump, who is so often unbound by facts and evidence, claims will happen if American voters dare to deny him a second term.
‘The Quality Of Life Is Going To Collapse’
“If Harris gets in, energy prices will skyrocket far more than even in Europe,” Trump said during what was billed as a speech on his economic policies in Asheville, North Carolina.
“Inflation will surge into double-digits in our own country and your quality of life will absolutely collapse. The quality of life is going to collapse under these lunatics,” Trump went on.
At another point in the same speech, Trump told the crowd: “You don’t have to imagine what a Harris presidency would look like. You’re living through the misery right now, except it will get worse.”
There Will Be ‘A Bloodbath For The Country’
Trump used the eyebrow-raising term at an Ohio rally in March as he spoke about the American auto industry, a subject about which he often uses catastrophizing language. He started out by pledging to impose a 100% tariff on vehicles churned out by Chinese auto factories.
If not elected, he said, “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars.”
Trump’s use of “bloodbath” made headlines across the country due to his history of encouraging political violence.
At another campaign stop, in Detroit, Trump was more straightforward.
“Every autoworker here will be out of a job within three years if I’m not elected. Every autoworker in this state. They’re all going to be made in China,” he told a crowd in Howell, Michigan.
There Will Be A 1929-Style Market Crash
“We are going to have a crash, and we’re going to have a crash like a 1929 crash if [Harris] gets in,” Trump said at a press conference at his New Jersey golf club.
It was a reference to the famous economic disaster that precipitated the Great Depression.
Christians Will Have To Vote Again (Which Is Bad)
Speaking at a Turning Point Action event in Florida this summer, Trump addressed Christian voters by claiming a victory for him means less voting in the future, which he framed positively.
“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” Trump said. “You won’t have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what, it’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians.”
“I’m a Christian,” he added, gesturing to himself.
Critics said Trump’s remarks were plainly antidemocratic. He later backpedaled by saying he only meant that he would solve Christian voters’ problems.
Everybody Will Have Health Care (Which Is Bad)
At a freewheeling press conference given from his New Jersey golf club, Trump told reporters: “You’re all going to be thrown into a communist system. … You’re going to be thrown into a system where everybody gets health care.”
He went on to claim that Harris wanted to abolish private health insurance. The trouble is that Harris has backed away from her support of “Medicare for All,” a plan for a universal health care system similar to those in other wealthy countries, although she did support such a plan several years ago.
‘Every One Of You Will Be Gone’
Trump went full fire-and-brimstone as he addressed Bitcoin investors at a conference in July.
“If we don’t win this race — and I know you’re not that political, but you have to be a political because your whole thing, I mean, you have a lot of politics involved in what you do,” Trump told the crowd at one point.
“Let me tell you, if they win this election, every one of you will be gone. They will be vicious. They will be ruthless. They will do things that you wouldn’t believe,” he said.
“A lot of you people are in the American Dream,” he added later, “but you’re going to be crushed if you don’t elect me, I hate to tell you. You don’t elect me, you’re gonna be crushed. ... [You’ll say] we’re going to move into an extremely small house from a beautiful house.”
More ‘Black Jobs’ Will Be Taken By Immigrants
Speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Trump remarked, “A lot of the journalists in this room are Black. And I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs.”
“And Kamala is allowing it to happen,” Trump added of his opponent. (Experts say his immigration claims are untrue.)
Asked to clarify what a “Black job” was, Trump said, “A Black job is anybody that has a job.”
There May Be No More Elections
“If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country,” Trump said at the same Ohio rally where he predicted a “bloodbath.”
It’s a sentiment he’s voiced before.
“It could be the last election we ever have. I actually mean that. We don’t win, I think this could be the last election we ever have. That’s where our country’s going,” Trump said in April during a Grand Rapids, Michigan, campaign event.
The U.S. Will Be ‘Finished’
“If we don’t win, I think our country is finished. I do. I think our country is finished,” Trump remarked in New Hampshire earlier this year.
In July, he told the Bitcoin investors: “If we don’t win this race, this country could be finished as we know it.”
Trump Will Flee To Venezuela, Maybe
Trump floated a bizarre scenario during his rambling interview with Elon Musk.
He suggested that all of Venezuela’s criminals were migrating to the U.S. — a statement for which there is no evidence — resulting in a steep drop in crime in Venezuela.
“If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country. So you and I will go and we’ll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela,” Trump told Musk, “because that’s what’s happening.”