The Democratic National Committee is in disbelief after the White House announced on Wednesday that President Trump’s hologram will appear on stage during the first democratic presidential debates scheduled for June 26th and 27th at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
The projection will be live-streamed from the Oval Office using the president’s access to a new cyber security technology, and there may be no way to stop it.
“This is a satellite based hologram,” said Gabriel Neihler, a government contractor who is familiar with the technology. “Typically, holograms require sophisticated setups using projectors, lighting, and stage equipment. The government made a breakthrough last year and was able to effectively transmit a hologram from a special satellite to any location on Earth.”
Neihler said he never imagined such an advancement in lasers would be used in this way.
“It will be just like he’s there, only he won’t be restricted to a podium. He’ll even be able to speak. The only difference is that he may be translucent or flicker under certain lights. He could even shrink to a smaller size and appear on a candidate’s shoulder, or make himself larger and stand over them all like a giant.”
A source said Trump has been practicing with the technology day and night so he can effectively pop in and out of the debate, correct candidates or return insults, and then disappear. “It’s like a brand new toy for him, and he’s positively giddy right now.”
It’s something of a nightmare scenario for both the DNC and the 2020 candidates, particularly the lesser known contenders who hoped to use the debate to introduce themselves to the American people.
Another source said Trump is particularly interested in appearing next to Elizabeth Warren and wants to know if standing in front of a candidate would block television viewers from seeing them.
“He can’t decide if it would be more effective to pop in and out randomly, or to stand behind them all the entire time.”
The move has been universally condemned as both unethical and illegal, but at this point there may be little anyone can do to stop it.
“It would be one of the most flagrant abuses of executive power I’ve ever seen,” said Chester D. Davis, a constitutional attorney and media correspondent in Miami. “No president should ever disrupt the democratic process in this way.”
Davis said the DNC could get a preliminary injunction from the courts which would prohibit the use of the hologram, but Trump might simply ignore it.
According to White House insiders, the idea began as a joke:
“Someone suggested he live-tweet to counter the attacks we all know are coming, but he’s done that before. Then Rudy just chuckled for a minute and said it was too bad his hologram couldn’t be there. The president then started looking into it and found out it’s possible with this new satellite.”
White House Source
Sources say canceling the debate is not an option either. The DNC doesn’t want to show any reactivity to this president and believes canceling the event would play into his hands. It would also cause enormous scheduling conflicts.
Top ranking democrats have agreed to meet with the president in a last ditch effort to talk him out of the idea but do not expect to make much progress.
“He’s pretty much made up his mind that he needs to be there, and I’ve never seen him this excited,” said a source.
The debates will air on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo, and will also stream online at NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com and the NBC News Mobile App at 9 p.m. ET.
