GOP avoids T-word in transition pushback

“Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that,” Trump said. “I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster.”

Trump, when pressed later, said, “We want to have — get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very trans- — we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly; there’ll be a continuation,” in an apparent suggestion that he will either win reelection or remain in power regardless.

Democrats seized on Trump and his comments, demanding that Republicans publicly condemn them. 

On the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said, “Every Republican in this chamber should stand up and say that a president who isn’t entirely sure if he’ll commit to a peaceful transfer of power isn’t a president at all.” 

Republican senators weren’t ready to go as far as Schumer suggested.