Bernie Sanders Calls For Congress, Media To Prepare For Donald Trump’s Refusal To Leave Office
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has echoed the fears of Democrats and other detractors of Donald Trump that the president could refuse to leave office even if he loses the November election. In a Friday interview with Politico, the former presidential candidate further cautioned that Congress and members of the media need to begin taking action now in preparation for that very scenario.
“What we have got to do in the next two months is to alert the American people about what that nightmarish scenario might look like in order to prepare them for that possibility and talk about what we do if that happens,” he said.
Concern about Trump’s potential unwillingness to vacate the Oval Office was heightened following comments he made during the 2020 Republican National Convention. In a livestreamed address on August 24, Trump claimed that the only way the vote could be taken from him is if it were a “rigged election.”
Trump evoked similar fears just one month earlier in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, during which he said that he would “have to see” before determining whether or not he would accept the electoral result in the event that Democratic nominee Joe Biden comes out on top.
He has also taken to Twitter with claims that universal mail-in voting is “fraudulent” and opined that voting should be delayed until such a time that it can be carried out securely. As reported earlier this week by The Inquisitr, he further encouraged supporters in North Carolina to vote twice, once by mail and once in-person — which is considered voter fraud and a felony in the state — as a means to test the system.
For his part, Sanders believes that Trump is attempting to undermine the electoral process and that Americans need to take heed of the president’s statements, telling Politico that his fear of a possible refusal to concede “is not just idle speculation.”
Sanders is reportedly planning on taking a series of actions to raise awareness about Trump possibly refusing to vacate the White House if he loses the election. The senator is slated to give a speech on the issue in the near future, and will also send an email on the topic to his sizable list of supporters, per Politico.
He has also called for congressional hearings with local officials about how they will approach Election Day and indicated that state legislatures must pass bills to enable the counting of mail-in ballots ahead of time.
