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The refusal of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to commit to a peaceful transition of power in the event of losing the next election, has prompted reprimands from the legislators of the two main parties, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, reminded him that he was not in North Korea.
Leaders in the United States Congress from the Democratic and Republican parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, quickly rejected after Trump said during a press conference Wednesday (local time): “We’ll have to see what happens,” answering a question about commitment to results.
“You know I have complained a lot about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster.”
McConnell and other leaders of Trump’s Republican Party did not hesitate to commit to an orderly transfer if Trump loses.
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“The winner of the November 3 election will be inaugurated on January 20,” McConnell said in a tweet. “There will be an orderly transition as there has been every four years since 1792.”
Democrat Pelosi said she was “very sad” that the US president even raised this question.
Evan Vucci / AP
Trump said during a press conference on Wednesday (local time): “We will have to see what happens,” responding to a question about commitment to the results.
“What would our founders think?” she asked.
“Calm down, Mr. President,” Pelosi said at a news conference.
He reminded Trump that the United States is not North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, or other countries with strong leaders that he openly admires.
“You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy,” he said. “So why don’t you try for a moment to honor our oath to the United States Constitution?”
Pelosi said she has confidence in American voters to cast their votes and elect the president.
Almost no Republican legislator came out in defense of the president.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Fox and friends Thursday, “If Republicans lose, we will accept the result. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Joe Biden, I will accept that result.”
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives, tweeted: “The peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and critical to the survival of our Republic. American leaders take an oath to the Constitution. We will keep that oath. “
Susan Walsh / AP
The Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, reminded Trump that the United States is not North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia or other countries with strong leaders whom she openly admires.
Veteran Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, chair of the Appropriations Committee, said: “Well, we’ve always had a peaceful transfer of power. That’s one of the hallmarks. And I think this year will be no exception.”
It is highly unusual for a sitting president to express less than complete confidence in the electoral process of American democracy. But Trump also refused four years ago to commit to respecting the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won.
Biden, his current Democratic rival, was asked about Trump’s comment after landing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday night.
“What country are we in?” Biden asked incredulously, adding, “I’m joking. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say about it. But I’m not surprised.”
Trump has been pushing a month-long campaign against vote-by-mail this November by tweeting and speaking critically about the practice. More states are encouraging voting by mail to keep voters safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The president, who uses vote-by-mail, has tried to distinguish between states that automatically mail ballots to all registered voters and those, like Florida, that send them only to voters requesting a mail-in ballot.
Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that widespread vote-by-mail will lead to massive fraud. The five states that routinely mail ballots to all voters have not seen any significant fraud.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Mitch McConnell and other leaders of Trump’s Republican Party did not hesitate to commit to an orderly transfer if Trump loses.
“Regardless of how divided our country is right now, when the election is over and the winners are declared, we must all commit to the Constitution and accept the results,” tweeted Rep. Steve Stivers, former chair of the Republican campaign arm of the Camera.
Sen. Mitt Romney, one of the only Republican voices opposing Trump, referred to an electoral crisis in Europe, tweeting: “The bottom line for democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president does not respect this constitutional guarantee is unthinkable and unacceptable. “
But Graham’s repeated suggestion to Fox that the Supreme Court might, by acting on seemingly unavoidable legal challenges to the election, nearly end up declaring the winner came with an unspoken subtext: that the Senate is moving to confirm a woman appointed by Trump to fill the vacancy left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election, potentially stacking the deck for Republicans.
Trump had suggested Wednesday that if states “got rid” of unsolicited ballot mailing, there would be no concern about fraud or peaceful transfers of power.
“It will have a very peaceful, there will be no transfer, frankly,” Trump said. “There will be a follow-up. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know, who knows better than anyone? The Democrats know better than anyone.”
In an interview in July, Trump also refused to commit to accepting the results.
“I have to see. Look … I have to see,” Trump told Chris Wallace during an interview in July on Fox News Sunday. “No, I’m not just going to say yes. I’m not going to say no, and not the last time.”
Any chaos in the universal vote-by-mail states is unlikely to cause the election result to be tabulated incorrectly, as Trump has suggested.
Of the nine states, only Nevada is a battlefield, is worth six electoral votes, and is likely to be critical only in a national presidential stalemate.
