WASHINGTON — Top Republican lawmakers on Thursday dismissed President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the 2020 election, seeking to deliver reassurances that the process outlined in the Constitution will be orderly and legitimate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted Thursday: “The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.”
On his way to the Senate floor after his tweet, McConnell ignored a reporter’s question on what he would do if Trump refuses to step down and whether he’d insist he do so.
Although McConnell didn’t directly name Trump in his tweet, it was clear he was responding to the president, who was asked at a White House news conference Wednesday evening if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election.
“We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be. I don’t think that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots – they’re unsolicited – millions being sent to everybody and we’ll see
“Well, we’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
When pressed again on the issue, the president said: “We’ll want to have — get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very — we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.”
On Thursday, he doubled down on the claim that he didn’t think there could be an “honest” election with some states sending ballots to all registered voters.
“We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be. I don’t think that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots – they’re unsolicited – millions being sent to everybody and we’ll see,”
Nine states and the District of Columbia plan to send ballots in the mail to every registered voters. Of those states, only Nevada is considered a swing state where Democratic nominee Joe Biden holds a six point lead.
In other states, like Michigan and Florida, voters have to request an absentee ballot in order to vote by mail, and Trump has encouraged voters to do so, including in a tweet on Thursday telling Florida voters to “make sure to request yours, fill it out & send it in.”
When asked in an interview with CNN on Thursday night to respond to Trump’s comments, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows claimed: “I haven’t heard him say that.”
“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to see a free and fair election on November 3rd, and the results will be what they are, and with that, we’re planning for a second term,” Meadows continued.
At a news briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said when asked if the president would accept the results of the election if he loses, “The president will accept the results of a free and fair election.”
When asked what ballots the president was referring to getting rid of, McEnany said, “The president wants to get rid of mass mail-out voting, and he has said clearly that could go either way, [affect] either candidate’s chances, because it’s a system that’s subject to fraud.”
Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that the peaceful transition of power is a “fundamental principle in this democracy” and he expects that to apply to the 2020 election just as it has in every election since the late 18th century.
“Republicans believe in the rule of law and we believe in the Constitution and that’s what dictates what happens in our election process,” he said.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a frequent critic of Trump, tweeted Wednesday after the news conference: “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 both…
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