Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses
OAKLAND, Calif. - For a second time in two days Thursday, President Trump remained non-committal to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election.
The President's assertion comes as he continues to infer that if he doesn't win, it will be because of fraudulent mail-in voting and not because more Americans voted against him.
"We want to make sure the election is honest and I'm not sure that he can be. I don't know that it can be with this whole situation (of) unsolicited ballots... millions being sent to everybody," Trump said Thursday from the White House lawn.
When the President first raised the possibility on Wednesday, the possibility quickly drew backlash from members of the Democratic party.
"Remind him you are not in North Korea, you are not in Turkey, you are not in Russia, Mr. President, and by the way, you are not in Saudi Arabia," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy."
The comment also had many questioning whether President Trump would not leave the White House if he wasn't reelected.
"How would somebody hold on to power? It would require the military or police or somebody to hold him in the White House," said political analyst Brian Sobel. "It just wouldn't happen. There is not the construct for that to happen."
In what's become standard political fare in the Trump Administration, while the president said one thing, the comment resulted in a very explanation from those within his administration.
"The president will accept the results of a free and fair election, but I think that your question is more fitting to be asked of democrats," said White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.
McEnany, instead, pointed the finger at democrats after former democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said that Joe Biden should not concede of results were too close to call.
The president could use legal avenues to challenges the election results and his regular comments against mail-in ballots may be a sign of what could happen after election day on Nov 3rd.
The president says he'll soon nominate a replacement to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
If confirmed, the Justice could be critical in key battleground states should the Trump campaign contests close election results.
The last time that the Supreme Court intervened in a presidential election was during the 2000 election where its decision headed the contested presidency to Republican George H. Bush over Al Gore.