'If he tries he wont succeed': Biden's lawyer warns they're ready for Trump to challenge election results
Law professor who worked on Obama campaigns added that the 2020 race has been ‘pretty heated’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A lawyer on Joe Biden’s campaign team has said they are ready to deal with any attempt by Donald Trump to dispute the election outcome, and that “if he tries, he won’t succeed.”
Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel in Barack Obama’s administration, has been with the Bidean campaign for several months, working to prepare for any legal battles that could arise following the 3 November vote.
The Republican president, Donald Trump, has likewise prepared his own team of lawyers, having spent months delegitimising mail-in ballots amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Trump may fantasize or claim he has all sorts of ways of stomping out the election results, terrorising polling places and the like, and that’s just not the case,” said Mr Bauer, in an interview with Reuters. “If he tries, he won’t succeed.”
The New York University Law School professor, whose career has been spent in political law practice, also worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
He admitted that the 2020 presidential race, in comparison, is “a pretty heated environment,” but that Democrats were prepared to counteract any unprecedented challenges.
“We don’t want there to be undue concern and alarm that would discourage people from voting,” said Mr Bauer, amid president Trump’s calls for his supporters to act as so-called “poll watchers”.
“We can respond anywhere in the country to these issues immediately,” he added.
Trump campaign spokeswoman, Thea McDonald, said people should be concerned about the possibility that “Biden doesn’t accept the results when president Trump wins reelection.”
“The president and the Trump campaign have long fought for a free, fair, transparent election,” Ms McDonald said.
But, in a Twitter post on Friday, Mr Trump once again attacked state procedures for counting mail-in ballots, saying “The Election should END on November 3rd.”
The Supreme Court decision on North Carolina allows officials to count ballots postmarked by Election Day, up to nine days after 3 November, and follows similar measures in Pennsylvania.
Mr Trump, however, suggested that the extended deadline to count ballots was illegitimate, saying: “Can you imagine what will happen during that nine day period.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments