Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Donald Trump said that voting by mail is going to rig the election, and if he loses, he might not accept the results.
Transcript via Fox News Sunday:
TRUMP: You don’t know until you see. It depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election. I really do.
WALLACE: Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results of the election?
TRUMP: No. I have to see. Look, Hillary Clinton asked me the same thing.
WALLACE: No, I asked you the same thing at the debate.
TAPE: Presidential Debate, October 19, 2016
WALLACE: There is a tradition in this country — in fact, one of the prides of this country — is the peaceful transition of power and that no matter how hard-fought a campaign is, that at the end of the campaign that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying that you’re necessarily going to be the loser or the winner, but that the loser concedes to the winner and that the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying you’re not prepared now to commit to that principle?
TRUMP: What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense. OK?
Video:
TRUMP: "I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election."
WALLACE: "Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results?"
TRUMP: "I have to see."
WALLACE: "Can you give a direct answer that you will accept the election?
TRUMP: "I have to see." pic.twitter.com/mPDPLY9vsr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 19, 2020
It doesn’t matter if Trump “accepts” the election results. He doesn’t get to sign off on them or contest them. If Biden wins, and the Electoral College certifies it, Joe Biden will be president. Trump can’t take any extraordinary measures to stay in office. At noon on Inauguration Day, Joe Biden would become the president, and he would have the power to order the military to remove Trump from the White House.
Trump is such a sore loser that it is easy to see him running away to his club in Florida, and not attending Biden’s inauguration. One could easily imagine tweeting about Biden’s inauguration to try to delegitimize the new president.
Trump can’t stop the transition of power if Joe Biden wins the election.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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