Trump declines to say he'll accept results of election: "I have to see"

[highplainsdem]

Source: Axios

President Trump refused to say on "Fox News Sunday" whether he would accept the results of November's election if he loses to Joe Biden, telling host Chris Wallace: "I have to see. I'm not just going to say yes. I'm not going to say no."

Why it matters: Trump gave a similar answer in 2016 when he was running against Hillary Clinton, prompting concerns there might not be a peaceful transition to power. At that time, however, Trump was not the incumbent.

Trump said his willingness to concede will depend on mail-in voting, which he said he thinks is going to "rig the election" — a claim he has previously made without factual evidence.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.axios.com/trump-election-rigged-da605666-7a05-4633-b216-d7adcfefa97e.html

[underpants]

1. Trying to play tough. I don't think he'd mind getting the hell out of there

He never really wanted it to start with. God knows Melania didn’t.

He likes to pretend he never loses but he loses constantly. He has conditioned himself to ignore it.

[Thekaspervote]

3. +1000

[Scarsdale]

8. Maleria has used the win to her advantage.

She got a better divorce settlement by refusing to move to DC. The fact that it cost taxpayers millions to protect her skank ass in the meanwhile was no concern to her. In typical gold digger fashion, she demanded a bigger paycheck.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Yes, except he's worried about prosecutions, even if he pulls a Pence. . . . nt

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

23. Resign at midnight before the inauguration, quickly pardoned by Pence, walks out of federal charges.

Now he's just got to drag out the New York state changes until he dies.

[hadEnuf]

41. You may be on to something there.

Pence could just pardon the whole Trump presidency.

[Mike 03]

16. You would think he'd want to get out of there.

His pattern, though, is to fight for the sake of fighting whenever challenged.

I still think there's a possibility he might resign if he can save face, because after that Rose Garden presser it's so hard to imagine him making it all the way to November. The key is he has to find the right excuse because he can't tolerate embarrassment, nor would he ever admit he might lose, or that he's made mistakes.

[TryLogic]

36. I fear he is psychologically unable to not keep fighting.

[Born Free]

55. Sucker Punch? Be careful what you wish for

You could be right or Trump and Republicans could be pushing Joe Biden & the Democrats to announce they will not question 2020 election results, this will allow Russia to pull off a more intense interference than 2016 to make it appear Trump wins and Democrats will be referred to as sore losers.

[Thekaspervote]

2. More bluster...he knows he's not only going to lose but lose McGovern style

Having said that, of course he has no idea who George McGovern is!!

[Hip2bSquare]

13. Dear God I hope so

I can't say that I'm completely confident...I wonder if he and his band of trumpanzees are planning something...delaying the vote, because of the virus that he truly doesn't care about. It seems the Georgia and Florida governors want the virus to run rampant...and then there's Portland. Could he declare martial law or something as bonkers?! The whole Postal Service thing!

He's a hemorrhoid that won't go away easily. Dear God I hope we are free of that human disgrace and his band of idiots in November!!

[TryLogic]

37. I fear Barr who has trememdous power and is devious as hell.

[electric_blue68]

26. McGovern was my first Presidential vote at 19! : ) ...

I was sooo proud and excited
I did volunteer work.

It was soooo devastating to walk into the NYC hotel that evening and see the projected map of his loss!

[robbob]

33. What I remember from being a 12 year old growing up in Canada

and pouring over my Dads subscription to Time Magazine was that McGovern lost the election (in part) because he came out against the Vietnam war, thus making him “weak” on fighting communism. Don’t know how much of that is true; I was 12 at the time, and this IS Time Magazine we are talking about, but anyway...

What was so absolutely baffling to my young 12 year old mind was the horrors of Vietnam were on display week after week in the magazine, in full bloody colour (I confess, part of the reason I poured over every edition), so I couldn’t fathom why coming out against such a bloody atrocity could make you lose an election. Even at 12 I could tell the war was wrong and needed leaders speaking out against it. I could also tell that Nixon looked like a cheap crook. “Would you buy a used car from this man?” was a slogan that stuck in my head.

I realize my memories are a simplistic version of the whole story, but even back then I could feel there was something very very bad going on south of the border.

[electric_blue68]

34. Hi there. More thoughts on McG...

Love Canada. 🇨🇦 Been to Toronto & Montreal as a tween & teen. Have had some good on-line Maple Leafers friends, too, waaay later on!

Yes, McGovern became one of the Anti-Vietnam War candidates. I've heard it said he didn't want to highlight his WWII record. He flew extra dangerous bombing missions, sooo ironic that they called a "weakling".
He also was very involved in hunger in America issues.

And Nixon got the nickname, "Tricky Dick". So you pegged him early on!

Stay safe up there!

[Bengus81]

32. I was hoping he'd get 1932 FDR'd but it won't be that bad.....

Still losing by double digits would be BIG.............

[Iliyah]

4. Secret police any indication, he will not go quietly . . .

but alas, resignation with waivers may be his best bet.

[jimlup]

5. The way he said it ....

it is as if he somehow thinks he's king.

[samsingh]

6. why do the rest of us have to accept results that have clearly been fraudulent or at least suspect?

at this point, why would we accept anything but a complete trump wipeout? Wouldn't anything else be suspect?

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

11. That's how I see it...

If trump wins this presidential election...THERE WILL BE NO DOUBT HE CHEATED.

I really want to turn my avatar over.

[KS Toronado]

15. Amen.....THERE WILL BE NO DOUBT HE CHEATED.

[hamsterjill]

29. I feel the same. But the question is

What will be done about it? Many of us strongly believe he stole the Presidency in 2016 and got away with it.

Do we take to the streets? What do we do?

[TryLogic]

38. Shut down everything espcially major highways, important bridges, office buildings, airports...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. If tRump tries to steal the election, Biden will have to say "I have to see". But mail-in? Nah. . nt

[iluvtennis]

10. Same shit he said during 2016 election. Remember all of the "rigged" BS he spouted.

So tired of his BS.

[Wuddles440]

12. He has absolutely....

no intention of leaving - peacefully or otherwise. Il Douche is incapable of accepting any criticism, let alone, defeat. To him being labeled a "loser" is a fate worse than death. He's planning on retaining and expanding his stranglehold on this nation.

[TryLogic]

39. He and his goons will create something, some sort of crisis. It is going to be rough sledding.

[empedocles]

14. Hard to see anything good about these vague 'have to see', 'will see what happens', etc.

[Stuart G]

17. Yes, this is the single "stupidest thing he has ever said."

I did a thread months ago..on his stupid things he has said

...But this is by far his stupidest!!!!!!!.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213686210

But, it is a good thing for our side...Proves he is nuts, and the nut cake needs to be out of there. Some who have hesitated on Trump, will see that this one statement means he has to go.
..Some may use that statement to vote against Trump. Of course, he doesn't know it, but he might have just sealed his fate with that stupid statement.

[jmowreader]

18. Trump seems not to accept...

that the Constitution does not say anything about the losing candidate having to "accept" that he's lost. If the Electoral College gives at least 270 votes to Joe Biden, Trump stops being president on January 20, 2021, the second President Biden finishes the oath - whether Trump wants to accept it or not.

Somehow I figure Trump's minions will get him to spend the time between the election and the inauguration on the golf course. Once Biden is elected the grifting will cease, so the minions will talk him into taking the taxpayer for all the money he can while he still can.

[Stuart G]

19. The reason is he has never read the Constitution, and doesn't care what it says..

[TryLogic]

40. "the Constitution does not say anything about the losing candidate having to "accept" that he's lost

Exactly, so a reporter asking the question is nonsense, and stirs up all kinds of troublesome possibilities. But of course it creates drama and sells air time. On the other hand, it gives all of us a heads up.

[SWBTATTReg]

20. Duhhhh...I have to see...duhhhh

I think it's going to be hard to miss millions of people celebrating on the streets of Washington DC when Biden trounces rump's a&& in November 2020.

[Grokenstein]

21. This isn't the best sign.

Link to tweet

[steve2470]

22. Biden, the DNC, and all our allies need to hammer home to voters that this is NOT NORMAL

For all of our existence, presidential candidates have willingly said they would accept the results of the election and transfer power, if the incumbent. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. This is like a banana republic or dictatorship. This point needs to be hammered home.

[hamsterjill]

35. Thank you!

Yes, it needs to be addressed BEFORE November.

[TryLogic]

42. Hell, this is way beyond "not normal". We are teetering on becoming fascist Germany.

[sarcasmo]

49. We're all stuck in this Country, even the Bahamas are keeping Americans out.

[bucolic_frolic]

24. Reality doesn't matter to him

why are we bound to it?

Let's face it, if Trump "wins", you know it's rigged.

[onetexan]

25. i wish the MSM would stop treating him like a normal candidate & ask him these assinine questions

We know he's enlisted Russian & Chinese actors to rig the election in his favor. We know he'll pull the same stunts he did in 2016, if not worse. We know the Idiot can't win except by cheating.

[wiggs]

27. his friends Putin and Netanyahu got re-elected...so he may be asking them for advice and help. nt

[wiggs]

28. He will try anything the GOP will let him get away with. Anything...and look at what they've

already allowed to happen.

Clearly, they've already discussed and plotted a path forward through November and January...we don't know what it is, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't involve fair elections and democracy.

[Trueblue Texan]

30. I'm now fully convinced he is trying to start a civil war...

That's what's Oregon's about. He wants to see what will be tolerated. With the governors taking him to court, they are engaging in a knife fight with a paperclip. They'd better have something more tangible up their sleeves or we are done. When he loses in the election, he will call it a fraud and these troops will be everywhere.

[malthaussen]

51. Exactly. It's the only card he has left to play.

And it isn't going to work, because his boys are not brave enough (or stupid enough) to actually resort to those "Second Amendment Rights" they brag about. Taking silly pictures fondling firearms is as far as they are able to go.

-- Mal

[Bengus81]

31. LOL...who cares what that POS loser says. When he loses...he FUCKING loses and LEAVES.

[TryLogic]

43. Trump never looses. Everything he touches dies.

[hadEnuf]

44. It doesn't matter what Trump accepts.

We've had to accept a POTUS who was obviously installed by Russian influence in the election and has abused his power, only to be excused by a GOP senate.

If the EC votes add up for Biden, Trump is gone. Period.

[Trueblue Texan]

52. But he will destroy everything before Biden takes the oath.

What we are seeing now is just the beginning, I fear. He knows he's going to lose so he's using paramilitary, untrained forces in Oregon, plans to do it in Illinois very soon, and will move on from there, leading up to the election. Once he loses, he will be on a rampage. He will wreck everything he can to prevent being walked off the premises and into a real justice system. I had hoped he was planning on going quietly, maybe arranging for the entire family to defect, but that's not what this looks like to me. It's hard to keep scamming and stealing in exile.

[hadEnuf]

54. I would expect no less from Trump because that is the type of sleezeball wannabe dictator he is.

Hopefully he takes the entire Republican party down with him and puts them into the political wilderness where they now belong.

No matter what Trump and his brown shirt supporters do, if he loses the election, he leaves. Period.

It will be his choice how he goes and his supporters can face the music for what they do after he dumps them too.


Democrats should levy as many charges as they can against Trump if Biden wins so he has to resign at the 11th hour and be pardoned by Pence. Otherwise he possibly could find a way to stay in power by who knows what type of means.

[paleotn]

45. You don't have a choice, so shut the hell up Donnie.

[FailureToCommunicate]

46. Biden's response: "The American people will decide this election. And the U.S. government is...

"The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”

The other things recounted from the Trump interview are just as disturbing:

https://apnews.com/aa07c0a980b3353b15f94442eb8191a5

[RhodeIslandOne]

47. He will "refuse to certify the election".

I know that's not a real thing. But his idiot fanbois will think it is and the media will just say "Well, we're just reporting both sides".

[sarcasmo]

48. Trump mentioned mail in ballots, and will file suit in every swing State Biden wins.

[Crazyleftie]

50. This issue is just

media hyperbole to gain headlines.......

[Trueblue Texan]

53. This...

[link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016262899|