Trump on accepting loss: ‘We’ll see’
Some in state GOP condemn the unprecedented subversion of democracy, but Romano refuses
Deputy House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora on Thursday denounced President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 election.
“Generally speaking, a position like that could put us into a crisis,” Candelora said. “I think that what we need to focus on here now and up to November is that we have a fair process that I think many of these decisions are left at the state level to determine.”
OnWednesday, a reporter asked Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election, one of the most basic principles of American democracy. “We’ll have to see what happens,” Trump responded. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster. ... Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very
peaceful ... There won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.”
OnThursday, Trumpdeclined to back down, saying that he was not sure the November election could be “honest” because mail-in ballots are “a whole big scam.”
“We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be,” Trump said.
Connecticut GOP party leader J.R. Romano, however, would not criticize Trump’s refusal, pointing instead to statements by Hillary Clinton, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Sen. Richard Blumenthal regarding a post-election transfer of power.
Romano said it was “disappointing when The Courant ignores comments like ‘You ain’t Black’ from Joe Biden and ignores comments from Senator Blumenthal like ‘nothing’s off the table,’ whatever that means” — referring to a Sept. 19 tweet by Blumenthal referring to a possible Democratic response if Republicans force a Supreme Court appointment vote before the election.
There is no record of Clinton, Blumenthal or Biden declining to support the transfer of power after a presidential election.
Biden responded to Trump’s comments Wednesday night, saying, “What country are we in? I’m being facetious. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don’t know what to say, but it’s not surprising.”
This week, The Atlantic reported that President Trump is considering a strategy to install electors in swing states to bypass election results and vote for the president in the Electoral College.
Trump’s rhetoric on the transfer of power after Nov. 3 has negatively impacted the general public, Candelora said. “You go on to Facebook or social media and you cringe at the comments that people will make in general, and I think that it may have permeated out of public officials behavior, including the president’s.”
Elected officials, Candelora added, should focus on bringing the public discourse back to the issues. “I’m critical of [Trump’s] comment because we can’t assume that the election is not going to be a valid election,” he said. “Weneed to strive to make it as pure and accurate as it can be, so that we don’t even get into this discussion of whether or not there’s going to be a smooth transition.”
During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Candelora said he believes Connecticut is trying to make sure every vote is counted, and also that appropriate safeguards are in place to combat fraud and abuse at the ballot box.
“From Connecticut’s perspective, I think that we could have a fair election, and I would hope that those results would be honored all the way up the chain from our state House races to president.”
At the Democratic National Convention, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton advised Joe Biden not to concede the election “under any circumstances.”