There's no place for a Coup in a democracy. You would need the military to stage a coup or topple the government of the day. Apparently, word was getting out the US wanted a change in government. Some locals interpreted it as a coup hence the rumour. These are allegations only. The US will definitely deny they ever had such intentions. You can only effect a regime change through the ballot in a democracy or maybe through legal means if elections results are challenged?
Please note I'm not suggesting a regime change or coup will happen but only sharing the basis for the rumour as reported by Polyh. From the article, one thing is clear - things did go down in Zimbabwe which gave a credible basis for the rumour. The govt has confirmed this much.
