Trump says he will leave the White House if Electoral College votes for Biden

[webfact]

Trump says he will leave the White House if Electoral College votes for Biden

By Jeff Mason and Simon Lewis

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the presentation (and pardoning) of the 73rd National Thanksgiving Turkey in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 24, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

 

WASHINGTON/REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to conceding the Nov. 3 election, even as he repeated his unfounded claims of massive voter fraud.

 

Speaking to reporters on the Thanksgiving holiday, Republican Trump said if Democrat Biden - who is due to be sworn in on Jan. 20 - is certified the election winner by the Electoral College, he will depart the White House.

 

But Trump said it would be hard for him to concede under the current circumstances and declined to say whether he would attend Biden's inauguration.

 

"This election was a fraud," Trump insisted in a sometimes rambling discourse at the White House, while continuing to offer no concrete evidence of widespread voting irregularities.

 

Biden won the election with 306 Electoral College votes - many more than the 270 required - to Trump's 232, and the electors are scheduled to meet on Dec. 14 to formalize the outcome. Biden also leads Trump by more than 6 million in the popular vote tally.

 

Trump has so far refused to fully acknowledge his defeat, though last week - with mounting pressure from his own Republican ranks - he agreed to let Biden's transition process officially proceed.

 

Asked if he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Biden, Trump said: "Certainly I will. Certainly I will. And you know that."

 

"But I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January. A lot of things," he said. "Massive fraud has been found. We're like a third world country."

 

Desperate efforts by Trump and his aides to overturn results in key states, either by lawsuits or by pressuring state legislators, have failed, and he is running out of options.

 

In the United States, a candidate becomes president by securing the most “electoral” votes rather than by winning a majority of the national popular vote. Electors, allotted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia largely based on their population, are party loyalists who pledge to support the candidate who won the popular vote in their state.

 

BIDEN, AND TRUMP STAY CLOSE TO HOME AMID PANDEMIC

Biden and Trump both stayed close to home to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the country.

 

Biden spent the holiday in the small seaside town of Rehoboth, Delaware, where he and his wife Jill have a vacation home. The Bidens are hosting daughter Ashley Biden and her husband Dr. Howard Krein for the holiday meal.

 

The former vice president, appearing with his wife in a video message posted to his Twitter account on Thanksgiving, said his family typically holds a large gathering on the island of Nantucket off Massachusetts, but would remain in Delaware this year "with just a small group around our dinner table" because of the pandemic.

 

In the presidential-style address to a nation that has lost more than 260,000 lives to the coronavirus, the Democratic president-elect said Americans were making a "shared sacrifice for the whole country" and a "statement of common purpose" by staying at home with their immediate families.

 

"I know this isn't the way many of us hoped we'd spend our holiday. We know that a small act of staying home is a gift to our fellow Americans," said Biden. "I know better days are coming."

 

Trump often likes to celebrate holidays at his Mar-a-Largo resort in Florida. But on Thursday he remained in the Washington area, spending part of the morning at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia where he played a round of golf.

 

It was a far cry from last year when he made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he served turkey to U.S. troops before sitting down to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them.

 

This time, Trump spoke by video link from the White House to members of the military.

 

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Jeff Mason, Tim Reid, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Michelle Price, Simon Cameron-Moore, Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-27

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Kelsall]

So if it goes to the House of Representatives he is not leaving, which we already knew.

[OneMoreFarang]

I hope he doesn't walk out. I hope he will be dragged out of the White House.

Maybe put it live on TV and let someone tell him: You're fired!

 

[Sujo]

Donald, you dont have a choice.

[Scott]

Troll posts removed.

 

[Tarteso]

When will this guy stop being news every time he opens his mouth?

[Kelsall]

11 minutes ago, Tarteso said:

When will this guy stop being news every time he opens his mouth?

I'm glad this is news.  The article should lay to rest people's fears of a military takeover or something else by Trump should he lose in the EC.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Kelsall

[Chomper Higgot]

It’s going to be a sweet moment.

 

I think I’ll watch it on Fox News.

[KC 71]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s going to be a sweet moment.

 

I think I’ll watch it on Fox News.

Spiffing

[ChakaKhan]

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s going to be a sweet moment.

 

I think I’ll watch it on Fox News.

They will be playing the Killer Pandas clip...can see the link on youtube if u think im fake news.....*Tucker clip

[ChakaKhan]

39 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I hope he doesn't walk out. I hope he will be dragged out of the White House.

Maybe put it live on TV and let someone tell him: You're fired!

 

Pay per view may help with the yuge national debt he left us with as he squats in public housing until then

[soalbundy]

Start packing. You could have done this graciously and with dignity but you are Trump so you mess it up. One thing is sure you will go down in history as the most divisive, incompetent president ever, an anomaly that the world hopes will never be repeated.

[bendejo]

What a generous, patriotic man!  To actually obey the rules and follow procedure!  How can anyone be more unselfish?

 

Actually, he said nothing.  That 5-4 decision of SCOTUS yesterday has emboldened him.  Alito, Thomas, and his Jokers Three.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by bendejo

[bendejo]

25 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s going to be a sweet moment.

 

I think I’ll watch it on Fox News.

Hosted by Geraldo, who will declare it the 2nd greatest TV event, after the opening of Al Capone's vault.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

58 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Donald, you dont have a choice.

He can walk or be dragged out. That's kind of a choice. ???? 

[Tug]

Ahhhh Donald reality check you have no choice lol you LOST as did America and the world with you gon we can all rejoice 

[scorecard]

18 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

He can walk or be dragged out. That's kind of a choice. ???? 

Or physically thrown out, with his family following quickly, lead by Ivanka.

[OneMoreFarang]

32 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Start packing. You could have done this graciously and with dignity but you are Trump so you mess it up. One thing is sure you will go down in history as the most divisive, incompetent president ever, an anomaly that the world hopes will never be repeated.

I hope he will not exceeded by another anomaly in a couple of years.

I remember when George W Bush was president and many people, including myself, though it can't get worse.

How wrong we were... 

[Jeffr2]

54 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

I'm glad this is news.  The article should lay to rest people's fears of a military takeover or something else by Trump should he lose in the EC.

The head of the military already said they will abide by the construction. Not help a dictator. So no fears of a military coup.

 

Can't wait to see how he vacates the WH. Probably under cover of darkness. LOL

[herfiehandbag]

Perhaps he is, for some reason, confident that he has managed to engineer matters so that the decision will be made either by The House of Representatives (one vote per state) or by The Supreme Court?

 

If so, in both cases, he will have "stolen the Presidency", and I suspect that serious repercussions will follow.

[scorecard]

11 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

The head of the military already said they will abide by the construction. Not help a dictator. So no fears of a military coup.

 

Can't wait to see how he vacates the WH. Probably under cover of darkness. LOL

With his face covered...

[herfiehandbag]

46 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Actually, he said nothing.  That 5-4 decision of SCOTUS yesterday has emboldened him.  Alito, Thomas, and his Jokers Three.

Which decision was that?

 

A genuine question - I googled and couldn't find anything relevant.

Edited November 27, 2020 by herfiehandbag

[edwinchester]

He'll leave with his head held high and his feet higher hopefully.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, Kelsall said:

So if it goes to the House of Representatives he is not leaving, which we already knew.

How big is that IF in your post? About as probable as a moon landing by New Guinea tribesmen.

[cmarshall]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I hope he will not exceeded by another anomaly in a couple of years.

I remember when George W Bush was president and many people, including myself, though it can't get worse.

How wrong we were... 

In some ways Trump has been worse than Bush, but not in every way.  Bush is a war criminal responsible for the deaths of up to one million Iraqis every one of whom was entirely innocent of WMD and 9/11.  Trump didn't commit war crimes.  At least not so far.

[Jeffr2]

1 minute ago, cmarshall said:

In some ways Trump has been worse than Bush, but not in every way.  Bush is a war criminal responsible for the deaths of up to one million Iraqis every one of whom was entirely innocent of WMD and 9/11.  Trump didn't commit war crimes.  At least not so far.

And trump is personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. Worst president ever by far.

[Lacessit]

54 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Which decision was that?

 

A genuine question - I googled and couldn't find anything relevant.

The decision to allow Jewish and Christian congregations to gather above the 50 limit in New York. It's such a shame the virus doesn't select for stupidity.

[spidermike007]

Not an issue at all. We would be happy to have the US Marshalls escort him out in handcuffs, for trespassing. Would be a fun photo opp. 

[spidermike007]

12 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

And trump is personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. Worst president ever by far.

I disagree. I thing Harrison and Buchanan were worse. He is either the 43rd or 44th worst. History will bear that out. 

[cmarshall]

14 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

And trump is personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans. Worst president ever by far.

By my arithmetic one million dead Iraqis is worse than 325,000 dead Americans, although both are certainly quite bad.