Bernie Sanders. Photo: Tim Vizer/AFP via Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in an interview with Politico on Friday warned that Americans must ready themselves for the possibility that President Trump will refuse to leave office even if he loses November's election.
What he's saying: "Trump was saying ... ‘the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election,’" Sanders recalled, alluding to Trump comments from the Republican National Convention. "Now he is making that statement at a time when virtually every national poll has him behind."
- Sanders also suggested that comments made during Trump's Fox News interview with Chris Wallace in July could signal the president's unwillingness to concede.
- Trump told Wallace when asked whether he'd accept the election results, "I have to see. Look, you — I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time, either."
What to watch: Sanders plans to "alert the American people about what that nightmarish scenario might look like in order to prepare them for that possibility and talk about what we do if that happens."
- The senator is calling on journalists and social media companies to inform people that election results could come days, if not weeks, after November 3, given the anticipated surge in mail-in voting due to the pandemic
- He's also calling on state legislatures to allow elections workers to start counting mail-in ballots prior to the election.