{"id":365717,"date":"2020-09-24T16:13:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T20:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=365717"},"modified":"2020-09-25T15:58:41","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T19:58:41","slug":"trump-lights-it-up-again-wont-commit-to-losing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2020\/09\/24\/trump-lights-it-up-again-wont-commit-to-losing\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Lights It Up Like He Did in 2016, Won\u2019t Commit to Losing"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: President Trump yesterday, a press briefing in the White House pressroom — and he lit it up again.<\/p>\n

Before I tell you how, let\u2019s go back. Grab audio sound bite number 14. This is from 2016, debate night in Las Vegas. Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the third and final presidential debate, and during a segment in which Trump claimed that the election was rigged against him, Chris Wallace, moderating the debate, said, “Mr. Trump, do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely accept the result of the election?”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: I will look at it at the time. What I\u2019ve seen — what I\u2019ve seen — is so bad. First of all, the media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing. The New York Times actually wrote an article about it, but they don\u2019t even care. It\u2019s so dishonest. And they\u2019ve poisoned the minds of the voters. But unfortunately for them, I think the voters are seeing through it. I think they\u2019re gonna see through it. We\u2019ll find out on November 8th, but I think they\u2019re going to see through it.<\/p>\n

WALLACE: But — but — but, sir, are you saying you\u2019re not prepared now to commit to that principle?<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: What I\u2019m saying is that I\u2019ll tell you at the time. I\u2019ll keep you in suspense.<\/p>\n

RUSH: So after that answer, do you remember the media went nuts? They were barely able to keep their underwear on, they were so upset. (sputtering) “He just said… He just said that he won\u2019t accept the results of the election! Did you hear that? He just said…” Hillary went nuts. She said, “He\u2019s an open threat to our democracy. He\u2019s an open threat. He just said… He just said he wouldn\u2019t accept the results of the election.”<\/p>\n

Now look at what happened. Who is it that didn\u2019t accept the results of the election? It\u2019s Hillary and the Democrats. They still haven\u2019t. You know it. Trump lit \u2019em up, and he was only being sensible, \u2019cause here\u2019s what Trump knew. If he had said, “Of course I\u2019ll accept the results,” you know what the headlines that night and the next day would have been. “Trump Concedes Election!”<\/p>\n

The media would have taken that as an opportunity to run stories: “Trump expects to lose! Trump acknowledges long-shot win chances! Trump this, Trump that! Trump acknowledges that he will concede the final vote,” blah, blah. That\u2019s what they wanted. That\u2019s why the question was asked and Trump knew it, and he wasn\u2019t gonna give \u2019em that.<\/p>\n

He said, “How can I tell you that? I don\u2019t know what the circumstances are gonna be.” It was a right-on-the-money answer. Well, the same thing happened yesterday in the White House. Playboy, Playboy magazine senior White House correspondent. Man, was this guy rude. This guy was snarky. His name is Brian Karem, and he said:<\/p>\n

“Win, lose, or draw in this election, will you commit here today for transferal of power after the election? There\u2019s been rioting in Louisville. There\u2019s been rioting in many cities across the country, your so-called red and blue states. Will you commit to making sure there\u2019s a peaceful transferal of power after the election?”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: We\u2019re gonna have to say what happens. You know that I\u2019ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots and you\u2019ll have a very peaceful… There won\u2019t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it, and you know who know it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.<\/p>\n

RUSH: He did it again. He didn\u2019t commit to a peaceful transference of power because he didn\u2019t commit to possibly losing. He\u2019s not gonna give them what they want. They\u2019re repeating everything. The purpose of this question, “Will you commit to a peaceful transferal of power…?” If Trump had said, “Well, of course, absolutely,” the headlines would say, “Trump acknowledging polling data!<\/p>\n

“Expects to lose and says, ‘No sweat,\u2019 he\u2019ll leave when the time comes.” They wanted that story. They wanted that headline. Trump knows what he\u2019s up against, and he knows who he is up against here, and he\u2019s not gonna give them what they want. He\u2019s already made it clear that he doesn\u2019t expect to lose. I mean, this question is absolutely insulting.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t expect to lose,” and he actually said that in his own words. He said, “There isn\u2019t gonna be a transfer of power. There\u2019s gonna be a continuation of power.” So they\u2019re all atwitter now. They\u2019re all beside them so they can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, I just get the biggest kick out of it when Trump does this: “refuses to commit to peaceful transition of power.” He didn\u2019t do that. He did not not commit to “a peaceful transition of power.” The media are claiming that he “refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power.” This time, they didn\u2019t wait for the debates to ask the question.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I wonder if Chris Wallace is ticked off? I wonder if they had that question ready to go and the Playboy reporter decides to ask the question yesterday? Trump said, like he always says, “We\u2019ll have to wait to see what happens. You know that. “I\u2019ve been complaining about the ballots, the mail-in ballots. They\u2019re a disaster.” That\u2019s what he said in 2016.<\/p>\n

He went on to suggest if it weren\u2019t for mail-in ballots and voter fraud, there wouldn\u2019t be any transition \u2019cause he\u2019s gonna win, easily. Grab sound bite number 13. While video of Democrat riots in Louisville fills the screen, David Axelrod, Obama\u2019s guy, says that Trump\u2019s comments “give license to his voters to take to the streets with guns.”<\/p>\n

AXELROD: He is going to do better on election night than he ultimately will, because 62% of his voters say they\u2019re gonna vote on Election Day. Their votes will be counted on Election Day. Uh, but, uh the write-in votes, many of them will be counted after Election Day, and he will claim when those votes come in that he had won and the votes were, uhh, taken from him. I think he\u2019s setting up that scenario, and it\u2019s very dangerous because he is sending a signal to people that they can take to the streets with guns if they don\u2019t like the outcome of this election. It is really a horrifying thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. What\u2019s really a horrifying thing is for you, Mr. Axelrod, to throw out this allegation when not single Republican is out on the street with guns. The Democrats are in the streets. It\u2019s the Democrats that are starting fires, the Democrats that are looting private property. It\u2019s the Democrats that are manipulating, bullying, and threatening people.<\/p>\n

He was on CNN last night with Anderson Cooper saying this. The question he got was, “What do you expect to happen now after election night? Do you see any way to avoid some sort of conflict?” So Axelrod says, “He\u2019s sending a secret signal to his voters to take the streets with guns, and it\u2019s abso…” That is beyond-the-pale irresponsible.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Here\u2019s Robert in Orlando, Florida. You\u2019re next on the EIB Network. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, Rush. It\u2019s nice to talk to you, and we all love you out here.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I just want to make a comment on when Trump is asked about the peaceful transfer of power, he should point out there\u2019s only one administration in my lifetime, and possibly history, that did not do that, and that is the Obama-Biden administration. When they transferred power, they were spying on his campaign, they were sabotaging his national security adviser —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Exactly.<\/p>\n

CALLER: — wiretapping, they were falsifying federal documents for warrants, and then Biden recently had a phone call to Ukraine saying, don\u2019t worry, after he\u2019s in office, we\u2019ll have a back channel. If that\u2019s not a coup, if that\u2019s not a hostile transfer, I don\u2019t know what is.<\/p>\n

RUSH: No, that\u2019s an excellent point. And Trump makes that point now and then. Just not in the context of answering the question the way you suggest here. But that would have been a good answer. “You want to talk about a peaceful transfer? How about what happened to me? How about the fact that I won and they still have not accepted those results.” I would have rammed it back down this playboy\u2019s throat, which is probably something a playboy\u2019s used to having happen to them, something rammed down their throat.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll tell you, here\u2019s Mark Meadows. Grab audio sound bite number 26. This was moments ago on the Fox News Channel. The question he got was from the hostette, Harris Faulkner. Question: “Mitch McConnell tweeted out that an orderly transition of power has been happening since 1972. He was asked about it by reporters, and he said read my tweet. Perhaps not everybody\u2019s happy about how this is unfolding with the president talking about this issue.”<\/p>\n

\"\"MEADOWS: With we look at peaceful transfer, the White House is prepared for the peaceful transfer. We really have to look at the American public. It was Hillary Clinton who told Joe Biden not to concede at all, and that\u2019s before a single vote was cast. So we just need to make sure we\u2019re fair on both sides.<\/p>\n

FAULKNER: That is very true.<\/p>\n

RUSH: There you go. There you go. Hillary Clinton has told Biden, whatever you do, don\u2019t concede<\/a>. Whatever you do, don\u2019t concede. Translation: We are not gonna accept the outcome of the election. If you concede, then you\u2019re announcing the outcome of the election. Do not do it. We\u2019re not gonna have a transfer of power. Or, better stated, we are gonna have a transfer of power whether we win the election or not. So these people get away with a double standard. They accuse us of things that they end up doing routinely. Anyway, Mark Meadows is right.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: What was obviously a planned and orchestrated moment, the question yesterday from the Playboy magazine reporter, Jonathan Karl of ABC News picked up right where the Playboy reporter left off today. The White House briefing room in the press briefing with Kayleigh McEnany. And we have a couple of sound bites from the press briefing to illustrate how it was a coordinated effort from yesterday to today to get the White House to somehow admit the president expects to lose and will have a peaceful exit, if that happens, blah, blah.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Kayleigh McEnany White House today, White House press secretary. Jonathan Karl, ABC News, says, “I wanted you to clarify something the president said yesterday. If he loses this election, can you assure us that there will be a peaceful transfer of power?”<\/p>\n

Now, the president got the question yesterday from a Playboy reporter, and the president said, “I don\u2019t know. We gotta wait and see what happens,” exactly what he told Chris Wallace in 2016 in the last debate. “I don\u2019t know what\u2019s gonna happen.” He talked about all of the ballots that are out there, all the bad ballots, all the incorrect ballots, all the problems with them.<\/p>\n

He said, “I don\u2019t know what\u2019s gonna happen.” The main thing Trump knows is he\u2019s not going to tell anybody before the election anything that give them a headline: “Trump announces he expects to lose!” “Trump concedes election!” “Trump expects this!” He\u2019s not gonna give \u2019em that. That\u2019s what they want. Here is how she answered the question…<\/p>\n

\"\"MCENANY: You are referring to the question asked by the Playboy reporter, right?<\/p>\n

KARL: I\u2019m referring to the president being asked if — if there would be a peaceful transfer of power within and, uhh, he did not say yes.<\/p>\n

MCENANY: Yes, we —<\/p>\n

KARL: I\u2019m asking, “Will there be a peaceful transfer of power if he loses this election?”<\/p>\n

MCENANY: I believe that question asked by the Playboy reporter — in fact, I think I have it right here.<\/p>\n

KARL: (interrupting)<\/p>\n

MCENANY: Uh, he was asked, “Win, lose, or draw” whether he would accept the transfer of power. I\u2019m not entirely sure if he won, why he would accept a transfer of power. That is maybe the deranged wish of that reporter —<\/p>\n

KARL: (interrupting)<\/p>\n

MCENANY: — but that\u2019s not how governing works.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Whoa-ho! Did you hear that? “The deranged wish of the reporter.”<\/p>\n

So Kayleigh said, “Let me reread the question to you -” because there\u2019s no question this thing has been — the media worked this up in tandem. Get two days out of this. The Playboy guy goes first in the briefing, and Jonathan Karl picks it up today. So she reads the question back. He was asked, quote, “Win, lose, or draw” — and this guy was being rude and snarky when he asked this question of Trump.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re getting worse when Trump does a White House briefing, these reporters are becoming snarky. They\u2019re getting even ruder. “Win, lose, or draw, will you accept the transfer of power?” And she points out, “Win, lose, or draw, why would he accept a transfer of power if he wins?” So Jonathan Karl then said (paraphrasing), “Well, he was asked a simple question. Don\u2019t do me technicality stuff. He was asked a simple question. If he loses the election, will this president assure us that there will be a peaceful transfer of power?”<\/p>\n