US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, if he loses the November 3 election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump, a Republican, also said he believed the election result could end up in the US Supreme Court, as he again cast doubt on postal voting. Many American states are encouraging mail-in voting, citing the need to keep Americans safe from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over two lakh people in the country. "Well, we're going to have to see what happens," Trump said when asked whether he would commit to a peaceful transition, one of the cornerstones of American democracy. "I have been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster...," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference. Trump has previously said his rival Biden would only win in November if the election is "rigged." In 2016, Trump also refused to commit to accepting the election results in his contest against the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, which she characterised as an attack on democracy. Trump was eventually declared the winner, although he lost the popular vote by three million, an outcome he still questioned.
Meanwhile, Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who has stood at odds with the President in the past, slammed Trump's remarks. "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," he said.
