Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

John Bolton warns ‘we should be ready’ for Trump to reject election results if he loses

Trump has been sowing doubts on the outcome of the election for months

Rhian Lubin
Saturday 02 November 2024 11:59 EDT
Comments
Related video: Trump pushes Musk’s theory about computer hacking and ‘one-day paper voting’

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.

John Bolton has warned that he doesn’t believe Donald Trump will accept the election results if he loses and “we should be ready” for him to reject them if Kamala Harris wins.

The former national security adviser, who has turned on Trump, was asked whether he believed the former president would accept the results if they are not in his favor on Tuesday. “No, I don’t think so,” Bolton told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins. “And I think we should be ready for it.”

“I think everybody ought to be ready because Trump never loses. And if he loses, it’s because it’s ‘stolen’ so it will be difficult,” Bolton added.

John Bolton speaks to CNN’s Kaitlin Collins
John Bolton speaks to CNN’s Kaitlin Collins (CNN/YouTube)

Bolton also weighed in on Trump’s inflammatory remarks about Liz Cheney being shot in the face during a campaign appearance. The former president joined conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson on stage at an event in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday night where he branded the former Republican representative a “radical war hawk.”

“I do think, in Liz Cheney’s case, though, there’s more to this that people are not catching,” Bolton said. “And that is, his criticism of her is not based on her being a war hawk or anything else.

“The fact is, she voted to impeach him, after January the 6th, and he cannot get it out of his head.”

Trump has been sowing doubts on the outcome of the election for months. He claimed he’s already winning in the three key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania while speaking at a rally last month with Turning Point Action, an organization founded by far-right political activist Charlie Kirk.

Donald Trump is already raising questions over the legitimacy of the election result
Donald Trump is already raising questions over the legitimacy of the election result (AP)

A recent poll also found the majority of American voters believe Trump will not accept the election results if he loses to Harris.

The CNN poll, conducted by SSRS, found that, if the former president loses next week, only 30 percent of all registered voters believe he will concede to his opponent. By contrast, 73 percent believe Harris will accept the election result if she loses.

Zeroing in on sentiment from Harris and Trump supporters, the poll found that 95 percent of Harris supporters do not believe Trump will concede if he loses. A majority (57 percent) of Trump supporters, however, believe he will concede and accept the result if he loses.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in