Trump suggests he might not accept election results if he loses

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 19 July 2020

During an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, President Trump said he is "not a good loser," and would not commit to accepting the results of November's presidential election.

Recent polls show former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, with a double-digit lead over Trump, but Trump said he can't lose to him because "the country, in the end, they're not going to have a man who — who's shot. He's shot, he's mentally shot." Wallace followed-up by asking Trump how he will react if he is not re-elected in November, and Trump admitted, "I'm not a good loser. I don't like to lose. I don't lose too often. I don't like to lose."

Because of safety concerns over in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic, some states are preparing to expand mail-in voting, and Trump made the baseless claim that this "is going to rig the election." Wallace asked Trump if this means he won't accept the election results, and Trump responded, "No. I have to see." When pressed, he added, "No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.