In 2016, Donald Trump waffled over whether he would accept the election results if he lost.

Since then, Trump has repeatedly joked about staying in office beyond the two terms the Constitution allows. Jerry Falwell Jr., Trump's most prominent evangelical supporter, has suggested Trump should get two years tacked on to his first term as "pay back" for the Mueller investigation. The president's own former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has warned that "there will never be a peaceful transition of power" should Trump fail in his reelection bid.

The scenarios all seem far-fetched — "It's almost a question for science fiction movies," cracked a former top Secret Service official — but the constant drumbeat nonetheless has people chattering in the halls of Congress and throughout the Beltway: What if Trump won't accept defeat in 2020?

And one scenario in particular has Democrats nervous: the lawsuit-happy Trump contests the election results in court.