US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he was concerned that President Donald Trump would try to "steal" the November elections, but he declared his confidence that Army soldiers would accompany Trump out of the White House if he lost and did not acknowledge the outcome.
"This is my biggest concern ... This president will try to steal the elections," Biden said in an interview on the comedy show "The Daily Show."
Biden did not specify how Trump's Republican Trump might be used to tamper with the elections, but the former vice president cited Trump's opposition to a postal vote.
He said Democrats will have lawyers present at voting sites across the country to monitor any attempts by Republicans to tamper with the vote.
Asked if he thought Trump would refuse to leave the White House if he was defeated, Biden replied, "Yes, I think so."
Biden said recent comments by former senior military officials who criticized Trump's response to nationwide protests over police brutality, made him confident that the US military would intervene if Trump refused to accept the election results.
"I am absolutely convinced that they will take him out of the White House quickly and decisively," Biden added.
Reply and attack
White House spokeswoman Kylie McNanny described Biden's comments as a "conspiracy theory," and told Fox News Thursday that Trump was looking forward to the elections.
"This is just another idiot of conspiracy theories by Joe Biden, given his constant attempts to undermine confidence in our elections," Tim Morto, communications director of Trump's re-election campaign, responded to Biden's comments.
"President Trump has made clear that he will accept the results of the 2020 elections," Morto added.
Trump has repeatedly attacked mail voting, declaring without evidence that the expected increase in mail voting will lead to widespread fraud in the November 3 election.
Worries and possibilities
Biden has previously expressed concern that Trump will try to rig the elections, but his speech has escalated recently, while most national polls show that the former vice president is ahead of President Trump, who has stepped up his criticism of the postal vote.
Trump and his Republican allies say voting by mail is vulnerable to fraud and will give preference to Democrats, although many independent studies have found little evidence of such a claim.