Biden, Harris Warn of Trump Threat to Democracy as Election Looms

AFP/APP

Detroit: President Joe Biden expressed concerns Wednesday that Donald Trump might not concede peacefully if he loses the upcoming US election.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris warned that a Trump victory would lead to a lawless administration intent on curtailing Americans’ freedoms.

Trump has been impeached twice and indicted twice over various alleged attempts to cheat in the 2020 election—an election he still refuses to acknowledge as lost. He was also convicted of 34 felonies related to a hush money scheme to deceive voters in 2016.

His false claims of widespread fraud in 2020 led to the storming of the US Capitol, resulting in over 100 police officers being wounded.

Biden, speaking to CBS, said he is “not confident at all” that Trump would concede peacefully if he loses in 2025. “He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously,” Biden warned. “He means it.”

Harris, during a tour of swing states, used Trump’s own words and felony convictions to argue that a second Trump term would be disastrous for America.

She highlighted Trump’s vow to act as a dictator “on day one,” his threats to weaponize the Justice Department against political enemies, and his 2022 comment about “terminating” constitutional provisions over his 2020 defeat.

“Someone who suggests that we should terminate the constitution of the United States should never again have a chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States,” Harris said, urging Americans to reject “the chaos, fear, and hate” of Trumpism.

At rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, painted a vision of future prosperity for the middle class, emphasizing their patriotism and contrasting it with Trump’s backward-looking policies.

Harris, reflecting on her own record against frauds and sexual abusers as California’s attorney general, criticized Trump for his legal troubles, including a sexual assault conviction and fraud lawsuits.

The rallies followed a major event in Pennsylvania, which drew 14,000 attendees, and were reportedly the largest rallies of the campaign. In Detroit, Harris faced interruptions from protesters dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s policy on Gaza, prompting her to sternly address the disruptions.

Walz, initially seen as an outsider for the VP pick, gained traction with his effective criticism of Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance. He led chants of the Harris campaign slogan “We’re not going back” and denounced Trump’s “dangerous and backward beliefs.”

Trump, focusing on personal attacks rather than policy vulnerabilities, has not significantly impacted Harris’s rise in the polls. She currently leads Trump by 51-48 percent in the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist survey and by 0.5 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics nationwide average.