Nancy Pelosi says Donald Trump will be 'fumigated out' if he refuses to leave White House after election loss

David Child21 July 2020

The top Democrat in the US has said that Donald Trump will be leaving the White House if he loses the election "whether he knows it yet or not".

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi rebuked the US President after he refused to say whether he would accept the result of the country's upcoming presidential election if he lost.

“There is a process. It has nothing to do with if the certain occupant of the White House doesn’t feel like moving and has to be fumigated out of there because the presidency is the presidency,” Ms Pelosi told MSNBC.

“Whether he knows it yet or not, he will be leaving,” she added. “Just because he might not want to move out of the White House doesn’t mean we won’t have an inauguration ceremony to inaugurate a duly elected president of the United States.”

Ms Pelosi also hinted that the subject of Mr Trump refusing to leave office came up at a regular “continuation of Government” briefing last week.

“This might interest you because I say to them, ‘This is never going to happen. God willing, it never will.’," she said.

Ms Pelosi's comments came after Mr Trump equivocated when asked in a “Fox News Sunday” interview, “Are you suggesting that you might not accept the results of the election?”

“No. I have to see,” he said. “Look you - I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say ‘yes.’ I’m not going to say ‘no.’ And I didn’t last time, either.”

Despite lack of evidence, Mr Trump frequently complains that mail-in balloting, which promises to be more widely used in this coronavirus-plagued election year, could lead to voter fraud.

He did not elaborate on what he believed his options are.

Mr Trump has been widely criticised for his handling of the Covid-19 crisis, which has killed more than 140,000 people throughout the United States (Reuters)
REUTERS

Prior to his 2016 presidential election win, Mr Trump made similar comments about not accepting defeat.

The 74-year-old currently faces plunging approval ratings amid a widespread resurgence of the coronavirus that has crippled the US economy and altered everyday life for Americans.

The global pandemic has killed more than 140,000 people in the United States - the world's highest Covid-19 death toll - and led to some 3.8 million people being infected nationwide.

Mr Biden is meanwhile riding high in pre-election opinion polls, with the coronavirus crisis among voters top issues.

Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Mr Biden, on Monday reiterated "the American people will decide this election".

"And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House," he added.

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