A statement that sows trouble even in the Republican camp.
The American president refused, Wednesday, September 23, to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in case of defeat in the election of November 3.
A provocation that attracts him outraged reactions from the entire political class.
"We're going to have to see what's going on," Donald Trump said at a White House press conference.
He had been questioned by a journalist who asked him to make a commitment to ensure a non-violent transfer of power, regardless of the outcome of the election between him and Democrat Joe Biden.
Currently behind in the polls, the Republican President regularly complains about the conditions of the organization of the poll and affirms that postal voting is a source of potential fraud.
This assertion has not been demonstrated, but voting by mail should be used much more this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Millions of Americans, many of them in the military, have been sending bulletins by correspondence without problems for years.
"Let's get rid of these bulletins"
Donald Trump appeared on Wednesday to call for a cancellation of the mailed ballots.
"Let's get rid of these ballots and it will be very peaceful, there will be no transfer really, it will be a continuation," he said.
Joe Biden immediately reacted to these remarks by the Republican billionaire who regularly plays with the idea of not recognizing the results of the election.
He made the same threat in the 2016 poll he won against Hillary Clinton.
"What country do we live in? Just kidding. I mean, what country are we in? He says the most irrational things, I don't know what to say," the Democratic candidate said.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who regularly opposes the president, also rose up.
"The peaceful transfer of power is fundamental for our democracy; without it it is Belarus. Any suggestion by a president that he can evade this constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable," he said. asserted on Twitter.
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 unthinkable and unacceptable.
- Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 24, 2020
These ambiguous statements by Donald Trump are part of a tense context in the United States.
The death last Friday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg offers the president the opportunity to appoint a new judge within this fundamental institution in American democracy, since it decides major societal questions, such as the right to abortion or carrying a weapon.
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Read also on France 24: Supreme Court: Amy Coney Barrett, dream candidate of the American religious right
The high court, which also arbitrates in disputes during the presidential election, should thus anchor itself durably in the conservative camp with three appointments made by Donald Trump.
With AFP
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