US President Donald Trump said that he would accept a peaceful transfer of power in the country if he loses the presidential elections scheduled for November 3, provided that those elections are "fair."
This came in statements made by Trump, Thursday evening, during an interview on the local television station "NBC" (NBC) from Miami, Florida, in conjunction with a similar interview conducted by his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
The two candidates, Republican and Democratic, were supposed to meet, on Thursday evening, in their second debate;
But it was canceled after Trump refused to participate in it following the organizers' decision to turn it into a virtual debate.
Because of his infection with Corona.
Rather than debate face to face or on a screen, the two candidates chose to respond to voters' questions live on the air;
But both of them are on a different TV station.
The third presidential debate is scheduled for October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Trump stressed in his statements that he would accept a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the elections.
However, he continued to cast doubts about the results, accusing the administration of former President Barack Obama of "spying on his election campaign."
Trump added, "Yes, I will accept a peaceful transfer of power; but I want it to be fair elections, and so does everyone want .. When I see thousands of ballot papers lying in the trash, and it happens that they bear my name, I am not happy about that."
"I want (the elections) to be clean, and I really feel that we will win, but I want that to be clean .. a peaceful transition, of course I want that, but in principle I don't want a transition because I want to win," he said.
Trump had refrained from pledging a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the November 3 election to Democratic rival Joe Biden, prompting condemnation from the Democratic camp, and even among the Republicans.
abstention
Trump had previously stated at a press conference at the White House at the end of last month, "We must see what will happen," in response to a journalist who asked him whether he pledges to abide by the most basic rules of democracy in the United States, which is the peaceful transfer of power when the president changes.
Biden was quick to comment on Trump's statements, saying, "Where do we live?"
"He says the most irrational things ... I don't know what to say," he added.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney went further, saying that expressing any hesitation about implementing what is guaranteed in the constitution "is unreasonable and unacceptable."
"Peaceful transfer of power is fundamental to democracy, without that we would be more like Belarus," he wrote in a tweet.
The President has repeatedly sought to question the legitimacy of the elections.
Because of his concerns about mail voting, which Democrats encouraged during the coronavirus pandemic.