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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (September 24) refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November 3 election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden and said he expected the election battle it will end up 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.
READ: Fax, mail or DHL? American Voters Abroad Are Concerned About The November 3 Election
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 about the transition of power were “irrational.”
His campaign said it was prepared for any “shenanigans” from Trump, reiterating comments from July that “the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting intruders out of the White House.”
Mitt Romney, a rare critic of Trump among Republican senators, 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. “
“IT WILL BE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT”
Trump, who is moving fast to nominate a successor to liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday, said early Wednesday that he believes the election will “end in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices. . “Trump plans to announce his nominee on Saturday.
A Senate confirmation vote before the election would seal a conservative six-to-three majority in court, which could create problems for Democrats should they be asked to decide 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.
READ: Ginsburg Honored at US Supreme Court, Trump Promises Quick Replacement
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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 seats in the House.
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.
