Don't Expect Trump to Commit to Peaceful Transfer of Power

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com - On Wednesday, President Donald Trump once more declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in the November election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

“You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster."

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The US President’s latest refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power is not his first as he declined to honor the election results if Hillary Clinton had won.

What is unusual is Trump’s blatant approach to reinstating his lack of confidence in the American democracy’s electoral process.

His current Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, 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 being facetious. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say about it. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Trump has been pressing a monthslong campaign against mail-in voting this November by tweeting and speaking out critically about the practice.

More states are encouraging mail-in voting to keep voters safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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The president, who uses mail-in voting himself, has tried to distinguish between states that automatically send mail ballots to all registered voters and those, like Florida, that send them only to voters who request a mail ballot.

Trump has baselessly claimed widespread mail voting will lead to massive fraud. The five states that routinely send mail ballots to all voters have seen no significant fraud.

Trump on Wednesday appeared to suggest that if states got “rid of” the unsolicited mailing of ballots there would be no concern about fraud or a peaceful transfer of power.

“You’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer frankly,” Trump said.