'Maximum chaos and upset': Rachel Maddow describes nightmare election scenario

When a reporter asked 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris if she still considered herself the "underdog" despite polls showing her with small single-digit leads over Republican Donald Trump, the vice president responded, without hesitation, that yes, she does. Harris cautioned that it's still a close race.

Nonetheless, Harris is quite competitive in many of the national and battleground state polls released in mid-August. And her supporters are hoping that the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago will increase her momentum.

But in an op-ed/guest essay published by the New York Times on August 19 — the opening day of the convention — MSNBC's Rachel Maddow lays out a troubling scenario in which Harris wins the electoral vote and MAGA Republicans do everything they can to overturn the election results.

READ MORE: The 'contradiction at the heart of the Republican Party' that gives Dems an advantage: columnist

Maddow notes that back in December 1960 — three weeks after Democrat John F. Kennedy defeated Republican Richard Nixon in that year's presidential election — far-right white supremacist Gerald L.K. Smith proposed a "nutball campaign to overturn the 1960 election."

Smith's message only had a small fringe audience, but in 2024, Maddow warns, many Trump supporters at the state, federal and local levels are determined to try something similar if he loses.

"Election boards across the country now include Republican officials who have not only propounded Mr. Trump's lies about the last presidential election being 'stolen,' they have tested how far they can go in denying the certification of the vote," Maddow explains. "Republicans tried this ploy more than two dozen times in at least eight states since 2020."

Maddow fears "legal challenges" and "certification refusals" from MAGA Republicans if Harris wins key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Michigan.

READ MORE: Ex-Bush strategist: 'Optimism ahead' as new poll shows 'Trump lower today' than he was in 2020

"The point of these certification refusals may not be to falsify or flip a result, but simply to prevent the emergence of one," Maddow warns. "If one or more states fail to produce official results, blocking any candidate from reaching 270 electoral votes, the 12th Amendment prescribes Gerald L.K. Smith's dream scenario: a vote in the newly elected House of Representatives to determine the presidency."

Maddow continues, "Each state delegation would get one vote; today, Republicans control 26 state delegations; Democrats control 22; and two are evenly divided…. No one should be surprised when certification refusals happen or when they are then exploited to try to maximize chaos and upset."

Maddow adds, "After all, the Republican nominee this year is no Richard Nixon."

READ MORE: Harris campaign announces largest single ad buy 'in the history of American politics'

Rachel Maddow's full New York Times essay/op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).