Al Gore Breaks Down How Donald Trump Will Be Removed From White House If He Doesn't Concede Election

Former Vice President Al Gore criticized President Donald Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting in a discussion Tuesday with Reuters and brushed off concerns that Trump would not concede the election if he loses to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. With Trump questioning the integrity of the voting process, there have been questions as to whether he would refuse to leave the White House if he's defeated in November.

“To try to deprive people who are scared of the pandemic from voting by mail by dismantling the Postal Service - he’s attempting to put his knee on the neck of democracy,” Gore said.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump ally and Republican donor, has implemented cost-cutting measures that have slowed down mail delivery prior to the election. Critics believe DeJoy is attempting to suppress the vote on Trump’s behalf, as mail-in ballots need to be received by a certain date to be counted in some states.

Trump has frequently derided mail-in ballots, claiming without evidence that they would “rig” the election and increase chances of fraud. This has prompted discussion in recent months as to whether he would accept the outcome if he lost to Biden.

“It’s not really up to him,” Gore said, and added that Trump’s term would end on Jan. 20, 2021, if he loses, with the secret service and military answering to Biden, the new commander-in-chief.

Due to pandemic-related voting changes, a delay in ballot counting could last well beyond Nov. 3. This has prompted concern since Trump is already crying fraud over mail-in ballots, as he may stoke chaos in the election's aftermath.

“You can always explore the option of dragging something out, tearing the country apart, mobilizing partisans against one another in the streets and all of that, but it was not a wise course for our country,” Gore said. Gore himself conceded to Republican candidate George W. Bush when he was the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2000 election.

Biden has said he is “absolutely convinced” that the military would remove Trump from office the incumbent loses the election and refuses to leave the White House.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to say whether Trump would accept the results of the election, despite Trump telling Fox News' Chris Wallace in July that "I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either."

"The president has always said he'll see what happens," McEnany said at a White House press briefing last week, "and make a determination in the aftermath. It's the same thing he said last November."

Recent polls show Biden well ahead of Trump in the general election. A Yahoo News/YouGov survey released on Monday showed Biden leading Trump by 11 points, 50%-39%.