Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if loses election

Daily US Times: President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the upcoming election.

“Well, we’ll have to see what happens. You know that,” Mr Trump told a news conference at the White House.

The President also said he believed the election result could end up in the US Supreme Court, as he again cast doubt on postal voting.

More states are encouraging mail-in voting, citing the need to keep Americans safe from Covid-19

On Wednesday, President Trump was asked by a reporter if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power “win, lose or draw” to Democrat Joe Biden. Mr Trump currently trails his challenger Joe Biden in national opinion polls with 41 days to go until the election.

The Republican president replied: “I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster.”

When the reporter countered that “people are rioting”, the President interjected: “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very – you’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”

Mr Trump also refused to commit to accepting the election results in 2016, when he contested against the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, which she characterised as an attack on democracy.

He was eventually declared the winner, although he lost the popular vote by a large margin, an outcome he still questioned.

Republican senator Mitt Romney, who is a rarity in his party because he occasionally criticises the president, tweeted on Wednesday: “Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus.

He said: “Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.”

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