On Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Jimmy Kimmel took some time in his monologue to talk about a thing that freaked him — and a whole lot of other people — out the day before: When Donald Trump said he wouldn’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.
The exchange happened during a press conference late Wednesday afternoon, when a White House reporter asked Trump “Win, lose or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election?” After some back and forth, Trump said “Well, we’re gonna have to see what happens,” then falsely cast the integrity of ballots into question and baselessly accused Democrats of engaging in electoral fraud. You can read more about that disturbing moment here.
“With each passing day – it seems more and more likely that we are on the brink of something very bad,” Kimmel said at the start of his chat about the incident. “Our ‘President’ made another history making statement last night – when asked if he would leave the White House gracefully – if he doesn’t win. Well, so much for that Nobel Peace Prize.”
Trump’s comments were “terrifying,” Kimmel continued. “If he doesn’t win – he wants to burn this country down.”
In the aftermath of the comments, which alarmed regular people and politicians alike, many Republicans were quick to issue statements attempting to reassure people that they actually support a peaceful transfer of power, something Kimmel found pretty amazing to behold.
“Even that old Son of a Mitch McConnell poked his head out of his shell to refute it. He tweeted ‘the winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.’ That is crazy,” Kimmel said. “Imagine having to come out and tweet in support of a peaceful transfer of power?”
Kimmel then turned to what he called “a very disturbing report in The Atlantic” about the possibility Trump might not concede if he loses the election, the way the electoral college has on more than one occasion led to the will of the electorate being overturned and the popular vote loser becoming president, and Trump’s frequent, false claims that mail-in ballots are replete with fraud. He then ended on a joke stemming from his worry about what happens if the election results this November aren’t clear.
“I don’t know about you, I miss the days when hearing about a Civil War just meant a new Captain America movie was coming out.”
We’ll have the full video at the top of the page.
Leave a Reply