US President Joe Biden expressed skepticism about a peaceful transition of power if Donald Trump loses the presidential election in November. In his first interview since exiting the race last month, Biden told CBS News, “If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all.”
He emphasized that Trump “means what he says” and criticized the dismissal of his comments, referring to Trump’s remark about a potential “bloodbath” if he loses. This comment, made during a discussion on the auto industry in March, sparked significant backlash.
Democrats quickly reiterated their campaign message that the former president is a threat to democracy. The Biden campaign utilized the “bloodbath” comment in an advertisement shared on social media, with a spokesman accusing Trump of “encouraging and excusing political violence.”
The Trump campaign countered that the comment was specifically related to the auto industry and had been taken out of context. They sent a fundraising email stating that Trump’s political opponents and others had been “viciously” misquoting him.
Trump asserted on social media at the time, “[They] fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry.” Biden has previously voiced concerns about his former rival’s willingness to accept the election results.
During a CNN presidential debate in June, which led to the crisis regarding Biden’s candidacy and his subsequent endorsement of Kamala Harris, Trump was directly asked if he would accept the results of the 2024 election.
“If it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely,” he responded, after initially avoiding the question.
After losing the 2020 election to Biden, Trump made repeated unfounded claims of election fraud. His supporters stormed the Capitol building in January 2021 in an attempt to halt the certification of the election results, with many attendees echoing the former president’s assertions that the vote had been rigged.
In a clip from the CBS interview released on Wednesday and posted on X, Biden seemed to indicate that there were efforts to complicate the post-election certification processes, although it was not clear what specific actions he was referencing.
“Look what they’re trying to do now, in the local election districts where people count the votes,” he said. “You can’t love your country only when you win.”
