President Trump told conservative radio host Dan Bongino that his administration would "take care of business" if people who were unwilling to accept the results of a Trump victory on Election Day turned violent.
In an interview on Friday, Bongino asked Trump if his administration was concerned about "the potential for violence by people not willing to accept the results of the election."
"We want to win, and once we win, we'll take care of business," Trump replied. "We are winning now. We have polls — our polls show that we're winning in Wisconsin, we're winning in Arizona, and yet, the New York Times comes out with a poll that we're nine down. We're not nine down."
Democrats and Republicans have speculated about how the opposing candidate's supporters are likely to respond should their candidate lose. A report by the Transition Integrity Project, a group of bipartisan analysts, academics, and former campaign and government officials, predicted, among a slate of potential outcomes, that a close result could lead to street violence.
Fearing that violent demonstrations might worsen as Election Day draws near, Attorney General William Barr told federal prosecutors to consider charging protesters with plotting to overthrow the government, according to reports this week.
The Trump campaign is seeking to limit voting irregularities through poll watching and other measures.
Trump has said he is not prepared to offer blanket support for the results until the time comes, telling Fox News in July that he would not "just say yes" when asked if he would accept the results of the presidential election. "I have to see," Trump said. "No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time, either."
A surge of mail-in ballots is expected due to the increased risk of coronavirus transmission in indoor spaces, where polling usually occurs. Trump has claimed that vote-by-mail is at greater risk of ballot fraud or that votes cast by mail could fail to be counted.
Earlier this month, Trump advised voters in North Carolina to "check their vote" by visiting a poll location "and voting that way because if it tabulates, then they won't be able to do that."
On Friday, Trump took aim at a newly published slate of New York Times/Siena College polls, which he called "crooked" and "suppression polls" and said were "meant to depress the voter and even the candidate." The poll shows Democratic candidate Joe Biden ahead in Arizona and Maine, with the duo effectively tied in North Carolina.
"And we didn't get too depressed last time," he added. "Last time, it was worse. Going into Election Day, we were down in eight or nine swing states. We were down in every swing state. We won every one of them, every single one of them we won."Bongino's full interview with Trump will air on Sunday.
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