Donald Trump warns of post-poll ‘bedlam'

The US President Donald Trump warned of ‘bedlam” if election results were delayed inordinately. His Democratic challenger for the White House Joe Biden, and his former boss Barack Obama, attacked and mocked the US president in their first joint campaign. There are concerns Trump could refuse to accept the election outcome if he loses and may not leave office.

“November 3rd is going to come and go, and we’re not going to know. And you’re going to have bedlam in our country,” Trump said at one of four rallies he addressed in Pennsylvania, referencing a Supreme Court decision allowing Pennsylvania and North Carolina to count mail-in ballots received even after the close of polling on November 3. “You’re going to have this period of nine days, seven days.” Trump went on to suggest “bad things” could happen, echoing unfounded fears he has raised before of election fraud. He has notably been unwilling to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses, citing his doubts about mail-in voting which is being used widely because of Covid-19.

Biden slammed the president, saying once again he had “waved the white flag of surrender to the virus”, which he won’t do if elected. “One Day One of my presidency, we will put into action the plan I have been talking about for months: Masking. Social distancing. Testing. Tracing,” he said.Obama also attacked Trump for this handling of the pandemic, but without pulling his punches. He spoke of the president’s “obsession” with crowds and accused him of holding rallies that, new research shows, have left a trail of Covid-19 infections.

There are fears of unrest, including violence in the days after polling. Shops and business establishments have been boarding up in Washington DC and some other cities with memories still fresh of large-scale looting and vandalism during the initial days of recent anti-racism protests. Retail giant Walmart has already removed guns and ammunitions from its shelves in some areas.