“Properly, we will need to see what occurs,” Trump mentioned when requested whether or not he’d decide to a peaceable transition, one of many cornerstones of American democracy.
Trump has beforehand refused to say whether or not he would settle for the election outcomes, echoing his sentiments from 2016. And he has joked — he says — about staying in workplace nicely previous the constitutionally certain two phrases.
However his refusal to ensure a violence-free transition went additional and is more likely to alarm his opponents, already on edge given his deployment of federal legislation enforcement to quell protests in American cities.
His reluctance to decide to a peaceable transition was rooted in what he mentioned have been considerations about ballots, extending his false assertion that widespread mail-in voting is rife with fraud.
“(G)et rid of the ballots and you will have a really … there will not be a switch, frankly. There will be a continuation,” he added, saying “the ballots are uncontrolled.”
Trump has beforehand mentioned his rival Joe Biden would solely prevail in November if the election is “rigged,” and advised earlier within the day it was probably the outcomes of the election can be contested all the best way to the Supreme Court docket.
Nationwide polls presently present Trump trailing Biden, although surveys of electoral battleground states are tighter.
Democrats have lengthy fretted that Trump might try to cling to energy utilizing the authorities of the president. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi advised over the summer time that Trump might need to be “fumigated out” of workplace if he refuses to simply accept the election outcomes.
Trump has not sought to tamp down on hypothesis he will not depart workplace. Requested in a Fox Information interview whether or not he may settle for the election outcomes, he demurred.
“No. I’ve to see,” Trump mentioned. “Look you — I’ve to see. No, I am not going to only say ‘sure.’ I am not going to say ‘no.’ And I did not final time, both.”
