President Donald Trump is raising concerns that the election may not be “honest” because of mail-in ballots.
As he left the White House for a healthcare event on Thursday, Trump was asked, “Are the election results only legitimate if you win?”
He responded, “We have to be very careful with the ballots. The ballots that’s a whole big scam.”
He referenced a new announcement from the Justice Department that seven ballots in Pennsylvania were discarded that had been cast for him. He also claimed that other ballots were found in a river.
“We want to make sure the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be. I don’t know that it can be,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Q: "Are the election results only legitimate if you win?
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 24, 2020
President Trump: "We want to make sure the election is honest and I'm not sure that it can be…" pic.twitter.com/5MQbfqCeEV
On Wednesday, Trump said he believes the election results would wind up before the Supreme Court because of “this scam that the Democrats are pulling.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed, contrary to the evidence, that expanding access to mail-in ballots would lead to massive voter fraud in the upcoming election.
And on Wednesday, he was asked if he would commit to ensuring that there is a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election in November.
“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,” he said, adding, “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very peaceful … there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”
His comments led the U.S. Senate to pass a resolution to affirm the senators’ commitment to a peaceful transfer of power.
Speaking about the resolution, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said, “Sometimes we hear things that challenge that, and we heard that yesterday, and we were very concerned about that.”
“For the president to even address the subject of maybe not knowing if he would accept or not is beyond all of our comprehension that that could ever happen in America,” he added.