Former Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster chided President Trump for initially declining to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose the election.
McMaster said Trump’s answer echoed what the “founders feared” about loyalty to political parties over the country. He also criticized those saying the U.S. military should have a role in the transition of power.
“Did you ever think you’d hear that coming from a president of the United States?” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked.
“No, Wolf. This is very disappointing,” McMaster said. “And really this is something that our founders feared. If you go back to the Federalist Papers and look at what James Madison and Alexander Hamilton wrote about, they wrote about the danger of factions and how factions, which they meant political parties, if we identify with them more than we identify with our republic, that that could lead to violence and so forth. So, I think we just all have to demand that our leaders restore confidence in our democratic principles and institutions and processes.”
McMaster added it was “equally irresponsible” for individuals, such as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, to suggest the U.S. military would need to be involved in the transition of power should Trump refuse to concede.
“The military should have nothing to do with partisan politics and nothing to do with even any talk about a transition between administrations,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trump ignited concern among critics that he would not accept a peaceful transition of power after failing to give a clear answer to a question posed by Playboy journalist Brian Kareem.
“We’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster,” said Trump. “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”
However, on Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Trump would “accept the results of a free and fair election,” though the president has continually raised concerns about voter fraud due to mail-in voting.
