Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) expressed fears over the potential unwillingness of former President Donald Trump to vacate the Oval Office if reelected in a future term.
What Happened: In an interview on MSNBC, Schiff concurred with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyom.), on the likelihood of Trump refusing to transition power if he loses a future election peacefully.
“Donald Trump will never leave office voluntarily,” Schiff said.
"And if anybody has any doubt about that, they should look at what he tried to do in the last presidential election that he lost. But they should listen to what Donald Trump has to say today."
"He is making it clear again that when he loses, he will contest it. He will argue that it's rigged and fraudulent. And he will terminate the Constitution if he's allowed to," he added.
Schiff also underscored Trump’s previous intentions to deploy the "military domestically," a move he attempted during his previous term. "We need to take his threats seriously because we have seen him act on them. And this is who he is," the congressman added.
"I think part of what we're seeing also is his team told him that he is frightening people with all of these anti-democratic talk and plans. And he is never one to back down in any way, so his response is, ‘I'm simply going to accuse them of what I'm doing.'
Why It Matters: Despite facing 91 felony charges linked to his efforts to overturn 2020 results and mishandling of classified documents, Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination. A recent Morning Consult poll of GOP voters showed Trump with a comfortable 50-point lead over his Republican opponents. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ranked second with 14% of support from GOP voters.
Schiff’s comments come at a time when he has recently decided to run for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s open Senate seat in California.
Meanwhile, Former President Donald Trump, in a recent town hall gathering, addressed various concerns, including the accusations of his potential second term turning into a "dictatorship."
Photo by Sheila Fitzgerald on Shutterstock
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