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US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November 3 election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Trump has also said he hopes the election battle will end before the Supreme Court.
“We will have to see what happens,” Trump, a Republican, told reporters at the White House when asked if he would commit to transferring power.
The president, who follows Biden in national opinion polls, has repeatedly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections, stating without evidence that voting by mail would lead to fraud and a “rigged” result.
“The ballots are a disaster,” Trump said.
Democrats have encouraged voting by mail as a way to safely cast votes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Millions of Americans, including much of the military, have cast absentee ballots by mail for years with no problem.
In 2016, Trump also raised questions about whether he would accept the election results. He went on to win the presidency.
Biden, speaking to reporters in Delaware, said Trump’s comments on the transition of power were “irrational.”
His campaign said it was prepared for any “shenanigans” from Trump and reiterated comments from July that “the US government is perfectly capable of escorting intruders out of the White House.”
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said on Twitter: “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 unthinkable and unacceptable.”
The peaceful transition of power is fundamental to democracy; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president may not respect this constitutional guarantee is unthinkable and unacceptable.
– Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 24, 2020
‘Before the Supreme Court’
Trump, who is moving fast to nominate a successor to liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday, said earlier that day that he believes the election will “end in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine. judges “.
Trump plans to announce his nominee on Saturday.
A Senate confirmation vote before the election would seal a 6-3 conservative majority in court, which could create problems for Democrats should they be asked to resolve any legal disputes over the election results.
“This scam that the Democrats are doing is a scam, the scam will be before the Supreme Court of the United States, and I think that having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation,” Trump said.
Only one US presidential election, the 2000 contest between Republican George W Bush and Democrat Al Gore, has had its outcome determined by the Supreme Court.
Earlier in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was campaigning, Biden said Republicans were “violating the essence” of what the country’s founders had intended by quickly seeking to fill the Supreme Court seat.
“This is an abuse of power of what they are doing, and I think we should focus on what this will mean for health care,” Biden said, suggesting that such a conservative majority could roll back abortion rights and the care law. Obamacare Medical. .
Trump has already appointed two conservatives to life court seats, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Supreme Court appointments require Senate confirmation, and Republicans hold 53 of the 100 House seats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he intends to act on any nominations Trump makes.
Democrats accuse McConnell of hypocrisy, noting that he refused to allow the Senate even to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s candidate for a vacant Supreme Court seat in 2016 because it was an election year.
The US elections are closer than they appear: former UK ambassador to the US.
Sir Kim Darroch, a former UK ambassador to the US, said he suspects things are “closer than they seem” in the run-up to the US general election and that “there is still a lot to play for.”
Mr Darroch said that the debates have not yet come and that they can play a critical role in people’s decisions.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that random events will also affect how people vote, noting that polls show that people still have more confidence in Republican economic policies than Democrats.
Kim Darroch said he can be sure that “the Trump vote will come out,” adding that the Democratic vote was not enough for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and that Joe Biden should mobilize this vote in November.
If Joe Biden wins the election, he said, then the trade deals are likely to focus on an EU / US free trade deal, which would be much larger than a US deal with the UK.
Darroch said they could also be in the United States joining the Transpacific association.
If Donald Trump wins the election, he said that a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States would be prioritized, but that Democrats have the power to block such a deal, adding that Democrats’ concerns about the agreement Good Friday would nullify economic concerns.
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