Former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod pushed back against the tone of the statement the Biden campaign released Friday that threatened to forcibly remove President Donald Trump from the White House.
Andrew Bates, the Biden campaign’s director of rapid response, responded to President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede by telling Fox, “As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide the election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
“Not sure I would’ve gone there,” Axelrod said of the statement while participating in a CNN panel. “It may be that people are feeling uneasy about the situation because of what the president is saying, but, you know, I don’t think … they need to be that aggressive at this point. They’re gonna win this race. It seems pretty clear they’re gonna win this race. And there’s no question that Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not, is going to leave the White House.”
WATCH:
Jeez, Axelrod both-sidesed Trump refusing to accept Philly results, bashed Biden campaign's statement about making Trump leave the White House if he won't go as too "aggressive." pic.twitter.com/ICzKXePmTL
— Tommy X-TrumpIsARacist-opher (@tommyxtopher) November 6, 2020
Though no winner has been officially declared as of Friday night, the lead Trump had in several key states evaporated on Friday morning, diminishing his chances of reelection. Five states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Alaska — have yet to be called, though Biden leads in the Electoral College vote 264-214.
Trump has yet to indicate an intention to concede, instead claiming during a Thursday press briefing that the election is being “stolen” from him.
As The Daily Wire reported:
President Donald Trump has no plans to concede the 2020 presidential election any time soon, despite Democratic nominee Joe Biden taking the lead in two key states and needing just six electoral votes to win the White House, according to a new report.
A source identified as a “senior aide” told Fox News that “the president’s counselors have been giving him advice in both directions, with some telling Trump that a concession is the correct thing to do, and others pushing him to continue to fight to ensure the vote was correct and legitimate.”
“The source told Fox News that the president is ‘simply skeptical.’ ‘He warned about this for months,’ the aide said. ‘The media didn’t take it seriously, and now, here we are with the scenario.’ The aide said, though, that the president ‘may ultimately concede.’”
“He’s just not there yet,” the aide told Fox.
A statement from Matt Morgan, Trump 2020 campaign general counsel, read in part:
The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final. Georgia is headed for a recount, where we are confident we will find ballots improperly harvested, and where President Trump will ultimately prevail. There were many irregularities in Pennsylvania, including having election officials prevent our volunteer legal observers from having meaningful access to vote counting locations.
Related: Biden Campaign Threatens To Escort Trump From White House