Like
@Fedor>Cain mentioned, the fake elector scheme is the real coup attempt. Jan 6 was a last ditch effort to stop the certification and pressure Pence (and the Senate) to do what Trump wanted.
If a candidate tries to toss the legal electors for his opponent, and replace them with illegal electors for himself so that he can hold on to power despite losing at the polls, that is a coup attempt.
There’s actually a term for this, “self-coup” (sometimes called “autocoup”). This is when a leader who came to power legally tries to hold on to power illegally.
The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!
www.dictionary.com