Trump declines to commit to peaceful transfer of power, McConnell promises 'orderly transition'

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump declined to commit Wednesday to providing a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 election, prompting a bipartisan backlash, including from senior Republicans who underscored their support of an orderly transition regardless of who wins the White House race.

"Well, we're going to have to see what happens," Trump said when asked if he would commit to a peaceful transition, assuming he lost the election.

The president also repeated his criticisms of mail-in voting, a practice that he has claimed will lead to widespread fraud.

"You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster," Trump told reporters. "Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very a peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not name Trump directly but said the transfer of power would continue as usual, writing on Twitter "the winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792."

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., also stood by a peaceful transition.

"The peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental to the survival of our Republic. America’s leaders swear an oath to the Constitution. We will uphold that oath," she wrote in a tweet Thursday.

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And Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, one of the most senior Republican senators and third in line to the presidency, told reporters on Capitol Hill, "I would have the same concern when Hillary Clinton advised Biden not to concede the election."

Democratic candidate Joe Biden was asked about Trump's comments Wednesday night.

“What country are we in? I'm being facetious," Biden said, adding, "Look, he says the most irrational things. I don't know what to say."

Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable'

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah responded to Trump's comments on Twitter.

"Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus," Romney tweeted. "Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined fellow Republicans in promising there would be a smooth transfer of power should Trump lose in November."

"There's going to be a smooth transition just as it is every time before," he told reporters at his weekly news conference Thursday. "I know this will keep you up at night, but don't worry about it. It's going to be very smooth."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., railed against Trump's comments, highlighting that elections are at the heart of our democracy. "That a president the United States would place in doubt the idea of the peaceful transfer of society, well, it’s really no surprise," she said of Trump, noting the peaceful transfer of power is "a beacon of democracy and hope to the rest of the world."

"To remind him, you are not in North Korea, you are not in Turkey, you are not in Russia, Mr. President. And by the way, you are not in Saudi Arabia. You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy," Pelosi said Thursday at her a weekly news conference. "So why don't you just try for a moment to honor your oath of office to the Constitution of the United States."

In the past, including during the 2016 and 2020 elections, Trump has declined to say whether he would accept voters’ results, suggesting he wants to leave his options open to contest those results.

Trump has also repeatedly joked at rallies that he would seek more than two terms, a line he uses to show how he “triggers” outrage about his Democratic critics.

“People who are very chill about the president not committing to the peaceful transfer of power unless they ‘get rid of the ballots’ are too chill for me,” tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “This seems an awfully serious thing to be dismissive about. At the very least it’s a good reason to oppose him vigorously.”

Joe Lockhart, a former spokesman for President Bill Clinton, suggested that every Democratic member of Congress send a letter to the president “demanding he commit to the peaceful transition of power in writing. If he won't, impeachment is a viable option.”

Contributing: Christal Hayes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump won't commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses election