Trump has explicitly refused to guarantee a peaceful transition if he loses the US election. (File)
Washington:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday explicitly refused to guarantee a peaceful transition if he lost the November US election to Joey Biden.
“Well, we’ll have to see what happens,” Trump was asked at a White House press conference.
Trump, who is currently trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden, resumed his closest complaint about how the election was conducted.
Referring to the apparent use of mail-in belts – due to the coronavirus epidemic – he said: “You know I’m complaining about belts and the belts are a disaster.”
Trump often claims that the mail-in ballot is a victim of public fraud and is being encouraged by Democrats to rig the election. However, there is no evidence that ballots sent by the postal service ever committed significant fraud in the US election.
At the press conference, Trump suggested canceling the ballot, saying that a large number of postal ballots were expected, saying he would remain in power under such circumstances.
“Get rid of the belt and you’ll have a lot of peace – obviously no change. There will be continuity,” he said.
Trump’s latest emphasis was that a fair presidential election could not be held on November 3 as pressure mounted on the Supreme Court over his plan to deliver a new, right-wing justice.
Trump is set to be nominated for the post of late Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on Saturday. His Republican party, which has a majority in the Senate, is expected to confirm the nominee soon.
If they succeed, the nine-judge court will have a strong bias for years to come.
Democrats are weeping bitterly, saying the process should wait until the election results are known so that the winner can take the form of the Supreme Court.
With Trump and Republicans raising a series of court challenges against the use of the mail-in ballot, the chances of a run-off are considered high.
On Wednesday, Trump said he thinks the election will “end in the Supreme Court.”
(Except for the headline, this story is not edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
