President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was not confident about a peaceful transfer of power in the United States if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump loses the Nov. 5 presidential election.
“If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” Biden said in an interview with CBS News when asked whether he thought there would be a peaceful transfer of power after the vote.
“He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it. All this stuff about if we lose, there’d be a bloodbath,” Biden added.
More: ‘Wanted to check out my future plane’: Vance tries to confront Harris at Wisconsin airport
During a campaign appearance in Ohio in March, Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if he failed to win the election. At the time, the former president was discussing the need to protect the U.S. auto industry from overseas competition, and he later said he was referring to the auto industry when he used the term.
Trump has falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election against Biden and was criminally charged in Washington, D.C., and Georgia with illegally trying to overturn the results.
The interview is Biden’s first since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, following pressure from fellow Democrats after a disappointing debate performance against Trump, raising concerns about the president’s age and health.
Biden has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who recently won the Democratic nomination. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will join the ticket as her running mate, and together, they will face Trump and his vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio in the general election on Nov. 5.
According to CBS, the full interview will air on “CBS News Sunday Morning” on Sunday, August 11.
Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.
Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden unsure about peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses election
