'We're ready for it all': Inside the Democratic Party's months-long methodical preparation for a Trump election coup

President Donald Trump is a master of projection. So, when Trump makes the baseless claim that mail-in voting is a Democratic plot to steal the election, it is likely Trump who is vying to do just that. Democrats are well aware of the types of dirty tricks Trump and his allies are capable of pulling, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assured HuffPost that her party is fully prepared for battle.

During an interview on Friday, October 30, Pelosi told HuffPost, "We're ready for it all. I would just like (Trump) to know it ain't going to happen for him at the end of the day."

According to Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, Trump plans to prematurely declare victory on Election Night if he is ahead in the vote count. And Pennsylvania, a key swing state, could be Ground Zero.

If the vote count on Election Night shows Trump ahead in Pennsylvania — with many mail-in votes from Philadelphia and its suburbs having yet been counted — Trump might announce that he won Pennsylvania and won the election. But no one will know for sure who won Pennsylvania until all of its votes have been counted. And if a heavy turnout for Trump in Central Pennsylvania (the most conservative part of the state) shows Trump ahead in the early vote count, the uncounted votes in Philly, a Democratic stronghold that is 43% Black, could swing Pennsylvania in Biden's direction.

Pelosi told HuffPost, "We have been prepared for the worst for a long time because what we have seen is the worst on the part of this president in terms of his disrespect for the Constitution, his disregard of free will of the people and his stooping to any level for his own reelection. We have tremendous intellectual, political and financial resources at our disposal.... We have our lawyers poised to move on a dime on Election Day or evening, as we see a problem."

Biden's campaign has an army of Democratic lawyers on hand in case Trump tries to steal the election. And the House speaker stressed to HuffPost that voter intimidation on the part of Trump supporters will not be tolerated.

"Go to Election Day and the intimidation that they have advertised that they're going to engage in," Pelosi explained. "We knew that it was in their playbook.... to scare people off from voting. So again, when they made it known, they made it easier for us to counter."

Discussing the possibility of Trump declaring victory prematurely before all the votes in swing states have been counted, Pelosi stressed, "This is not child's play. It is unconstitutional."

The House speaker urged voters not to be intimidated — regardless of what Trump and his supporters try to pull on Election Day.

"Don't panic," Pelosi advised. "Be confident. We will make sure that we will have a fair count. The antidote to his poison, whether it's policy or politics or stealing an election ― the antidote to his poison is to vote."