Georgia Politicos React to Trump’s Refusal to Say if He Will Accept Election Results
The big headline from Wednesday’s presidential debate was Republican candidate Donald Trump’s unwillingness to say whether he would accept the results of the November 8th election. After being asked a direct question by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump answered, “I’ll keep you in suspense.” As could be expected, Trump’s response drew strong reactions from Georgia officials on both sides of the aisle. As reported by Greg Bluestein of the AJC, Atlanta Mayor and Clinton surrogate Kasim Reed said,
Donald Trump is just going through the stages of denial. He’s going to lose and he’s coming to grips with the fact he’s going to lose,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in an interview. “I don’t think any of his (supporters) can predict, plan or expect what he’s going to do. But he’s already done so (much) damage to our democracy that folks view this as a very bad chapter that needs to end.
House Speaker David Ralston, via his spokesman Kaleb McMichen, said,
Free and fair elections are a defining characteristic of our country and Americans can be confident in the sanctity of the voting booth. Thousands of dedicated professionals and volunteers work to secure our electoral process each time ballots are cast. On Election Day, our country will begin yet another peaceful transfer of poser — no matter the outcome.
Trump has tweeted his suspicions that there could be outright voter fraud in the election, and has also expressed his concerns in his speeches and rallies. When he talks about the election being rigged, however, there is some confusion over whether he is referencing the possibility of fraud, or whether he is talking about what he views as media bias in favor of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp had already begun to push back on Trump’s claims of a possible rigged election, telling the AJC, “As Georgia’s chief elections official,” he added, “I have worked tirelessly to ensure Georgians have safe, accessible, and fair elections in our state.” Today, he is quoted in the AJC as saying, “At the end of the day, I believe the American people and Donald Trump will stand by the results of the election after the process has been completed and that we will have a peaceful transition of power.”
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Jon Richards
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I’m not sure why we care if he accepts the results. The voters (via the Electoral College) decide who the next president will be, this isn’t a reality show where Trump gets to say “you’re fired.”
So what if he takes his ball and goes back to Trump Towers?
It would depend on how states have set up their voting rules. Example, in 2008-2009, Minnesota went through a certification issue by the governor, because US senate candidate Coleman would not concede. Franklin was not certified until May 2009 I believe after recounts and some rounds in court.
He’s not that big and we’re not that small!
The country has survived:
1) A sitting VP killing a former treasury secretary
2) Several states left the union
3) A bloody civil war was fought
4) Several presidents have been killed or wounded while in office
5) Two world wars were fought and won
6) 9-11
7) Two presidents impeached
And the list goes on……..
Donald Trump is a small man on a big stage. Each day he gets smaller but the stage stays the same size.
And the over reaction continues….
Every candidate has the legal right to wait until the election is over before deciding how to proceed. As Trump said today, if the election is clear, then no problem. But if there are abnormalities, he reserves the right to challenge. Same for every candidate in history running in every single election.
Steve Schmidt (‘this could be the end or our republic’) along with the rest of the sky is falling libs on MSNBC would be proud of this over dramatic response.
And if Speaker Ralston really said, “another peaceful transfer of poser — no matter the outcome.”, he will be prophetically spot on if HRC wins.
I have finally found something that I agree with you on. I think it’s pretty dumb that this has become an issue. I’m also not a fan of Steve Schmidt becasue he is the one to blame for the rise of Sarah Palin.
It’s the same problem Trump shows over and over again, he is unable to articulate any point in anything approaching a reasonable manner. So, instead, he makes a big grandiose statement that makes it sound like he might call for tanks in the streets and leaves it to his ever dwindling list of surrogates to explain what he actually meant. He is incapable of saying anything that might actually appeal to a swing voter, everything is driven towards his base. And, worse for him, continually playing up that the election is “rigged” is only going to lead to his own voters skipping the polls because he is constantly telling them their votes won’t matter. He has no turn out effort and, even though he won all those primaries, he consistently underperformed his polling while doing it while that race was still being contested. Another 1-2 points towards Clinton because Trump voters don’t show and a whole lot of states are in play including this one and Texas.