Trump refuses to commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses election
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to clearly guarantee a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the upcoming US election in November to Joe Biden, AFP reported.
"Well, we're going to have to see what happens," Trump responded when asked at a White House press conference whether he is committed to the most basic tenet of democratic rule in the United States.
Trump, who is currently behind in the polls against Democratic challenger Joe Biden, then resumed his near daily complaint about the way the election is being organised.
Trump frequently claims that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to mass fraud and are being encouraged by Democrats to rig the election. However, there is no evidence that ballots sent through the postal service have ever led to significant fraud in US elections.
At the press conference, Trump seemed to suggest annulling what are expected to be the huge numbers of mailed-in ballots, saying that in such a scenario, he would remain in power.
"Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. There'll be a continuation," he said.