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President Donald Trump again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to see what happens,鈥� Mr. Trump said Wednesday at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he鈥檇 commit to a peaceful transfer of power. 鈥淵ou know that I鈥檝e been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.鈥�

It is highly unusual that a sitting president would express less than complete confidence in the American democracy鈥檚 electoral process. But he also declined four years ago to commit to honoring the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won.

His current Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, was asked about Mr. Trump鈥檚 comments after landing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday night.

鈥淲hat country are we in?鈥� Mr. Biden asked incredulously, adding, 鈥淚鈥檓 being facetious. Look, he says the most irrational things. I don鈥檛 know what to say about it. But it doesn鈥檛 surprise me.鈥�

Congressional Republicans pushed back on Mr. Trump's comments on Thursday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told 鈥淔ox & Friends鈥� on Thursday, 鈥淚f Republicans lose we will accept the result. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Joe Biden, I will accept that result.鈥�

Rep. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, a member of the House GOP leadership, tweeted, 鈥淭he peaceful transfer of power is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental to the survival of our Republic. America鈥檚 leaders swear an oath to the Constitution. We will uphold that oath.鈥�

Mr. Trump has been pressing a months-long campaign against mail-in voting this November by tweeting and speaking out critically about the practice. More states are encouraging mail-in voting to keep voters safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, who uses mail-in voting himself, has tried to distinguish between states that automatically send mail ballots to all registered voters and those, like Florida, that send them only to voters who request a mail ballot.

Mr. Trump has baselessly claimed widespread mail voting will lead to massive fraud. The five states that routinely send mail ballots to all voters have seen no significant fraud.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 latest comments were widely denounced by Democrats as threatening the very nature of the nation鈥檚 democracy. Several Republicans came forward, as well.

鈥淩egardless of how divided our country is right now, when elections are over and winners are declared, we must all commit ourselves to the Constitution and accept the results,鈥� tweeted Ohio's Rep. Steve Stivers, a former chair of the House Republican campaign arm.

Sen. Mitt Romney referred to an electoral crisis in Europe, tweeting, 鈥淔undamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.鈥�

But Mr. Graham鈥檚 repeated suggestion on Fox that the Supreme Court could 鈥� when acting upon seemingly inevitable legal challenges to the election 鈥� end up all but declaring the winner came with an unspoken subtext: that the Senate was moving to confirm a Trump-appointed jurist to fill the vacancy left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg鈥檚 death before the election, potentially stacking the deck for Republicans.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday had appeared to suggest that if states got 鈥渞id of鈥� the unsolicited mailing of ballots there would be no concern about fraud or peaceful transfers of power.

鈥淵ou鈥檒l have a very peaceful 鈥� there won鈥檛 be a transfer frankly,鈥� Mr. Trump said. 鈥淭here鈥檒l be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know, who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.鈥�

In a July interview, Mr. Trump similarly refused to commit to accepting the results.

鈥淚 have to see. Look ... I have to see,鈥� Mr. Trump told Chris Wallace during a wide-ranging July interview on 鈥淔ox News Sunday.鈥� 鈥淣o, I鈥檓 not going to just say yes. I鈥檓 not going to say no, and I didn鈥檛 last time either.鈥�

The Biden campaign responded Wednesday: 鈥淭he American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.鈥�

The American Civil Liberties Union also protested Mr. Trump鈥檚 remarks. 鈥淭he peaceful transfer of power is essential to a functioning democracy,鈥� National Legal Director David Cole said. 鈥淭his statement from the president of the United States should trouble every American.鈥�

Mr. Trump made similar comments ahead of the 2016 election. When asked during an October debate whether he would abide by the voters鈥� will, Mr. Trump responded that he would 鈥渒eep you in suspense.鈥�

It鈥檚 unlikely that any chaos in states with universal mail-in voting will cause the election result to be inaccurately tabulated, as Mr. Trump has suggested.

The five states that already have such balloting have had time to ramp up their systems, while four states newly adopting it 鈥� California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Vermont 鈥� have not. Washington, D.C. is also newly adopting it.

Of those nine states, only Nevada is a battleground, worth six electoral votes and likely to be pivotal only in a national presidential deadlock.

California, New Jersey, Vermont, and D.C. are overwhelmingly Democratic and likely to be won by Mr. Biden.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.