Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if not elected.
By Allison McDermot
Things are not looking good for those hoping for a typical Presidential election this November. During a press conference on Wednesday, President Trump made clear he has no intentions of peacefully acquiescing power in the event of a Joe Biden victory.
When questioned if he will vacate the White House peacefully upon a potential loss to Biden, Trump quipped, “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that.”
Trump then pivoted to the unproven accusation that mail-in ballots posed a threat to a legitimate election. As far back as early summer, Trump has tried to ‘prime the pump’ of distrust in mail-in voting as the Americans public health fears loom large during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster,” Trump said in rebuke of the voting process used for decades by the U.S. military.
As can be seen in the above video, Trump was grilled by reporters repeatedly on whether he would “commit to making sure that there’s a peaceful transferral of power.” Foreboding the election battle to come, Trump pressed on again with mail-in ballots.
“We want to have — get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful, there won’t be a transfer, frankly,” Trump said in typical jumbled form. “There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. You know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know better than anybody else.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign has a set of canned answers as response to Trump’s comments on refusing a peaceful transition of power: “The American people will decide this election,” Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a public statement. “And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening, “Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.”
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