Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Sunday echoed President Joe Biden’s remarks final week that the upcoming election could be “free and honest,” however perhaps not “peaceable.”
“If it’s shut, if [former President] Donald Trump loses once more, as I anticipate that he’ll, he’ll contest it,” Schiff informed moderator Kristen Welker on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “He has extra cause to contest it than he did earlier than, not due to any flaw within the election, however as a result of Donald Trump believes, and maybe with cause, that if he doesn’t succeed on the poll field, he could also be going to jail. So he’s going to problem the outcomes.”
His feedback observe remarks from Biden on the White House press briefing room on Friday, wherein the president informed reporters he was assured that the upcoming election “might be free and honest” however didn’t know “whether or not it is going to be peaceable.”
“What the president mentioned was all too correct — shockingly, breathtakingly, tragically correct — and that’s sure, I believe the election might be free and honest, however will it’s freed from violence on the finish of the day?” Schiff mentioned Sunday.
Schiff pointed to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol for example of the violence that unfolded within the wake of Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“This is the legacy of Donald Trump, which is we now can not go into an election with full confidence that the outcomes might be peaceable,” the congressman, who’s working for Senate this yr, informed Welker.
NBC News has reached out to the Trump marketing campaign for remark.
He added that he expects Harris to win the election however that “it’s nonetheless scary shut” and that larger-than-expected margins might stem the specter of violence associated to the election end result.
“The cause why the margin is so necessary is as a result of [Republicans] will problem the outcomes after they lose. Running up that margin as a lot as doable and turning folks out must be our precedence,” Schiff mentioned.