Saturday on MSNBC, former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt told host Alex Witt the Trump campaign needed a renewed focus on spending “some serious time preparing a concession speech” so that it would initiate a “peaceful transition of power” on January 20 in a dignified manner.
Schmidt was not concerned about the possibility of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Tuesday.
“Well, look, I think when you look at this — when you look at where the race is right now, Hillary Clinton will be elected the 45th president of the United States,” he said. “And so now it’s time, particularly because of the rhetoric from Donald Trump, about the rigged election, about his assaults on the process by which we choose the leaders.”
“I think they need to spend some serious time preparing a concession speech,” Schmidt continued. “And being focused on initiating in a dignified manner the peaceful transition of power which takes place on January 20. The process commences when the losing candidate picks up the phone, calls the winning candidate. The first person who addresses Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night is Madam President-Elect that matters is Donald Trump. And he’s indicated that he has no intention of conceding this election in a normal manner. And it’s very dangerous for American democracy.”
(h/t RCP Video)
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