Peter Ticktin says 'there would have to be martial law' in 'another rigged election' on a Steve Stern-hosted Rumble call for election activists, later reported by Axios

The Daily Beast reports that a video call for MAGA election activists, streamed on Rumble on Sept. 30, carried Peter Ticktin’s remark “There would have to be martial law in the event”. Ticktin is Tina Peters’ attorney. The host was Steve Stern. Peters also spoke, and Gregory Stenstrom said he most wanted the election paused over security concerns. Axios published on Oct 16, 2026; Raw Story, Newsweek and the Daily Beast carried it.

This is a different event from the Joe Oltmann Untamed interview in the earlier Oltmann entry, which was a conversation between Oltmann and Ticktin on Oltmann’s own show. The wording differs as well: the Oltmann interview produced “martial law with our side in control of the armaments”, while the Stern-hosted call produced the remark above. I did not find the taping date of the Oltmann episode, so I treat them as separate appearances.

Ticktin’s own statements, in order. On Oltmann’s show (Mediaite) he denied pushing “martial law to operate the elections”. The Daily Beast says that to Axios he said ballots and equipment would “probably need to be commandeering” so that they could get to the bottom of it. To the Daily Beast he described the scenario as a “nightmare scenario”. All the statements are on the record side by side.

What the remark does. Newsweek’s legal summary is that a president cannot simply declare martial law to postpone an election, seize ballots, or take control of state election systems. The remark is a stated precondition voiced by a private lawyer on a call whose host, per the Daily Beast, steers viewers into Republican poll-worker and observer recruitment. It works as a signal to watch and is not an operative step.

Verification limits. I did not read Axios directly; its text reached me through the outlets quoting it. I read the International Business Times piece only to its opening paragraphs. No transcript or Rumble URL for the Stern call was found. Playing the audio is a human step: find the Rumble video of the Stern call, locate the Ticktin segment and note the timestamp. Participants beyond the publicly named speakers are not identified here.