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Rumors are spreading that President Trump may use the military to stage a coup and stay in office, but Congressman Adam Smith says he has seen no evidence of that plan.

Smith, U.S. Representative for Washington’s 9th congressional district and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that his conversations with the Pentagon indicate no military leaders will back the use of force to keep Trump in power.

“I am in close contact with senior leadership at the Pentagon. They have no intention whatsoever of doing that, and there’s not any evidence at this point that that’s even part of Trump’s plan,” he said.

“We have a narcissistic child as president and he’s lashing out because his toys were taken away from him,” Smith added. “Regrettably, he’s the president, so firing the secretary of defense, these are dangerous things — this is different than just throwing a temper tantrum in your playroom.”

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While it’s dangerous, Smith says it likely won’t lead to Trump holding on to the presidency over Biden.

“There’s really not a path to that end,” he said. “What it does do, however, is it really undermines our democracy.”

Smith added that he does not believe that the new acting Defense Secretary, Chris Miller, was put in place to help President Trump hold on to power through use of the military.

“By and large, all evidence is that he’s an honorable person trying to uphold the Constitution and do the right thing,” Smith said about Miller. “He’s not Rudy Guiliani. He’s not Bill Barr.”

Even so, President Trump is planning for a second term as he files lawsuits challenging the election results.

“Let me say, Mitch McConnell and all the Republicans who are going along with him are participating in this, they are actively, right now, supporting a coup,” Smith said.

The full interview with the congressman and ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio’s Dave Ross will air Thursday on Seattle’s Morning News.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.