Biden 'Not Confident' of Orderly Power Transfer if Trump Loses

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Facts

  • In a clip of an interview with CBS News, set to be aired on Sunday, US Pres. Joe Biden said he is 'not confident at all' of a peaceful transition of power if the Republican candidate, former Pres. Donald Trump, loses the 2024 presidential election.[1]
  • Biden, who has quit the presidential race, emphasized that 'He [Trump] means what he says,' referring to Trump's past statement that there would be an economic 'bloodbath' in the auto industry if Democrats win.[2]
  • Regarding the larger Republican Party, he said, 'Look what they’re trying to do now, in the local election districts where people count the votes,' though it's unclear what exactly Biden was accusing his opponents of doing.[3][4]
  • Biden has previously argued, 'I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one.' However, the context of that statement has been debated, with analysts noting that Trump said he would not be a 'dictator' 'except for day one' to 'close the border' and 'drill, drill, drill.'[5][6]
  • This comes as the GOP-controlled election recently voted to give local officials more power over election certification, a decision Trump celebrated.[7]

Sources: [1]CBS, [2]FOX News, [3]Guardian, [4]BBC News, [5]CNN, [6]Daily Caller and [7]NBC.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Missouri Independent. It's not just Trump repeating anti-democracy rhetoric; his whole campaign strategy is based on it. One of his top advisors recently stated that Team Trump won't accept any election results until Inauguration Day, suggesting it will be Trump and only Trump who is sworn into office next year. The pro-Trump Republican Party has become eerily comfortable with this language, and the American public should be aware of it.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. The same Democrats who just installed a presidential nominee with no voting process should not be accusing Trump of authoritarianism. While the Biden-Harris administration distracts the public with hyperbolic claims about Trump, they've embarked on one of the most authoritarian missions in US history: overhauling the Judicial Branch to establish permanent Democrat power.
  • Narrative C, as provided by New York Times. Donald Trump's norm-breaking actions are more spectacle than substance. There is absolutely no evidence that he seeks to unconstitutionally seize power. The real danger lies in neglecting underlying social and economic issues. Focusing on exaggerated threats of tyranny distracts from addressing economic inequalities and social justice, which are the true sources of political instability. And that is the real threat to US democracy, not Trump.

Predictions