President Trump said he would accept the results of the November election if it came down to a Supreme Court decision, regardless of who emerges the winner.
A day after being noncommittal in response to a question about a peaceful transferal of power, he told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that he would “agree” to stepping down if the high court ruled in such a way that handed former Vice President Joe Biden victory.
“One of the things you said when asked about if you lose the election, will you accept the result, you said, ‘Well, we’re going to have to see what happens, you know. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster,'” Kilmeade said to the president during a radio interview. “Many think you are saying … if you do lose, you’ll never, ever leave. That’s not what you’re saying. We just spoke to Lindsey Graham. He said, ‘We have every reason to contend anything that might be controversial.’ And I’ll paraphrase, he said if it gets to the Supreme Court and they decide Joe Biden won, Joe Biden won. Do you agree with that?”
“Oh, that I would agree with, but I think we have a long way before we get there,” the president answered, before discussing mail-in ballots.
The last time a presidential election came down to the Supreme Court was in 2000, when the nine justices on the high court settled a recount dispute that favored then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush over then-Vice President Al Gore.
The president’s hesitation to agree to leave office peacefully if he loses the election, which sparked a flurry of implicit condemnation from a litany of Republicans, happened during a press briefing. In his response to that question from a reporter, he declined to agree, citing mail-in voting, which he has repeatedly claimed is susceptible to fraud.
“We’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster,” Trump said. “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”
The president has also said he believes filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court, left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg upon her death Friday at the age of 87, is important to do before Election Day in the event it does need to decide who wins the Nov. 3 election. Senate Republicans are poised to move ahead with whomever Trump picks for the high court. Democrats, including Biden, have called for the process to be put on hold until after the election.
“I think this will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation.”
