Trump says he may not accept presidential election result

A little over 100 days left until the U.S. presidential election to be held on November 3, President Donald Trump who is significantly behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden has caused controversy with his comment indicating the possibility of not accepting the presidential election result.

During an interview with Fox News aired on Sunday (local time), President Trump said he dislikes losing and does not lose often to a question asking if he will accept the result of the November election. The interviewer repeatedly asked whether he would accept the result, to which Trump said, “No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.”

The president is far behind the Democratic candidate. According to the joint survey of The Washington Post and ABC News published on Sunday, Biden’s national approval rate is 55 percent, which is 15 percentage points higher than Trump’s 40 percent. This is the seventh survey featuring a two-digit gap between Biden and Trump since mid-June. Moody's Analytics has also predicted that Biden will secure 308 votes among 538 members of the electoral college easily defeating Trump, given economic metrics, such as unemployment rates.

The political circles in Washington believe that there is a possibility that President Trump will protest against the election result, especially if defeated by a small margin. During the Sunday interview, President Trump said he thinks mail-in voting, which is considered as an alternative voting method during the COVID-19 outbreak, is “going to rig the election.” He seems to be concerned over the mass mail-in voting of young and black voters who are supportive of the Democratic Party but have lower turnouts. “Indeed given my experience working for Mr. Trump I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” said Michael Cohen who worked as a personal lawyer for Trump in the past.

Given the current situation of extreme tensions between two political camps, concerns over not only litigations but also violent protests as a result of strict conflicts between those who support and oppose him are rising in the case that Trump does not accept the election result.


lightee@donga.com