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US SENATE LEADER Mitch McConnell has moved to assure voters that the results of this year’s presidency will be implemented in an orderly manner.
It comes a day after President Donald Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the November election.
It follows several months of Trump’s attempts to undermine voting by mail, with tweets and critical public comments about the practice, which some states are encouraging to keep voters safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The president caused a stir Wednesday when he refused to pledge to honor election results or treat mail-in ballots as legitimate.
“Well, we’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump responded when asked at a White House press conference if he was committed to the peaceful handover of power following a change of president.
“You know I’ve been complaining a lot about the ballots and the ballots are a mess,” he said.
But last night, McConnell sought to defuse the controversy.
“The winner of the November 3 election will take office on January 20,” he said in a tweeted statement.
“There will be an orderly transition as there has been every four years since 1792.”
In recent campaign speeches, Trump has repeatedly said that Democrats could manipulate the electoral vote count, taking advantage of an increase in voting by mail due to Covid-19.
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On Wednesday, he suggested that he believed he would win the election if the ballots mailed were not counted.
“The ballots are out of control,” he said.
“Get rid of the ballots and you will have a very peaceful one; there will be no transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation, ”she said.
– © AFP 2020 with reporting by Stephen McDermott.
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