Trump Reveals What He'll Do If He Falls Short During 2024 Election

Former President Donald Trump responded to a question about the 2024 election outcome.
Trump Reveals What He'll Do If He Falls Short During 2024 Election
Former President Donald Trump arrives at 40 Wall Street after his court hearing to determine the date of his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, in New York City on March 25, 2024. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Phillips
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Former President Donald Trump responded to a question about what he would do if he doesn’t win the 2024 presidential election in November.

While in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 45th president was asked by a local newspaper about what he would do if it’s declared that he isn’t the winner.

“If everything’s honest, I'll gladly accept the results. I don’t change on that,” President Trump said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.”

Later in the interview, he suggested that he actually won Wisconsin in the 2020 election. “If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin,” he added. “It also showed I won the election in other locations.”

The former president, however, said in a recent Time magazine interview that he believes he will win the 2024 election.

“I think we’re going to win,” President Trump said. “And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election. I don’t believe they’ll be able to do the things that they did the last time. I don’t think they’ll be able to get away with it. And if that’s the case, we’re gonna win in record-setting fashion.”

While the former president was in Milwaukee to hold a rally on Wednesday, he has been forced to sit in a New York courtroom every other weekday during his “hush-money” trial. Last month, the presiding judge, Juan Merchan, told the former president that he has to attend the trial every day or could face arrest.

“Never forget our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. I’m never going to let it happen, ” President Trump said at the event. “They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.”

He also attended an event in Michigan Wednesday, telling supporters that he needs a major victory to make sure the elections numbers are “too big to rig.”

Recent Polls

Meanwhile, a Reuters/Ipsos survey shows President Biden holds a 1 percent lead over President Trump nationally. Some 40 percent of registered voters in the two-day poll said they would vote for President Biden if the election were held today, compared with 39 percent who picked former President Trump.

That 1 point lead was down from a 4 point lead Biden had in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between April 4 and April 8. The survey had a roughly 3 percentage point margin of error for registered voters and many voters remain on the fence six months before the Nov. 5 election.

Some 28 percent of registered voters in the poll said they had not picked a candidate, were leaning toward third-party options or might not vote at all. The poll found 8 percent of respondents would pick Robert Kennedy Jr. if he were on the ballot with President Trump and President Biden.

While nationwide surveys give important signals on American support for political candidates, it is really only a handful of competitive states that typically tilt the balance in the U.S. electoral college, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.

A recent poll released by CBS News shows that President Trump and President Joe Biden were neck and neck in the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

NY Trial Continues

President Trump has spent much of April in a Manhattan courtroom in what is the first of four possible criminal trials against him, although it’s not clear if any of the other cases will go to trial before the November contest.

The trial in Manhattan involves accusations the former president covered up a payment to an adult performer before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for the woman’s silence about an alleged affair she had with President Trump, which he has categorically denied. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying they’re part of an attempt to imperil his 2024 candidacy.

In the trial, multiple witnesses have already been called in to testify. Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the case has fined President Trump several thousand dollars for what he said are violations of a gag order about certain individuals in the case.

Prosecutors on Thursday submitted more alleged violations of the gag order to the judge, although he did not immediately issue a ruling on them. Lawyers for the former president have argued that the order is unconstitutional and restricts his ability to speak freely under the First Amendment.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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