For the second time in a week, the Republican presidential candidate has acknowledged the prospect of defeat.
Former US President Donald Trump has said he does not expect to run for office again in 2028 if he is defeated in November’s election.
Trump, 78, has been the Republican nominee in the last three national elections and has reshaped the party over the past eight years.
In an interview with Sinclair Media Group, he was asked if he could imagine running again if he lost to the vice president, Democrat Kamala Harris.
“No, I don’t see that. I think that would be the case,” Trump said. “I don’t see that at all.”
But he added: “I hope we will be very successful.”
American law bars presidents from serving more than two terms, consecutive or otherwise. In other words, if Trump wins now, he won’t be eligible to run again in 2028.
In the past, the real estate billionaire rarely acknowledged the possibility of losing an election, and always galvanized his supporters with speeches and social media posts promising victory.
But this is the second time in four days that he has mentioned the possibility of a defeat.
On Thursday, at an event at the American-Israel Council, he floated the possibility of not winning, and suggested that a defeat would be partly the fault of Jewish voters.
“Do they know what the hell is going to happen if I don’t win this election?” Trump said. “And the Jewish people would have a lot to do with it, if that happens, because with 40% [de apoio a Trump] This means that 60% of the people vote for the enemy.”
The comments were criticized by the Harris campaign and the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.
Trump’s comments about the possibility of defeat may reflect a shift in Harris’s outlook since she took over the Democratic campaign following the withdrawal of President Joe Biden.
His campaign raised more than $190 million in August, compared to $130 million raised by Trump in the same period.
National aggregates of public opinion polls monitored by the BBC show Kamala Harris ahead of Trump. A CBS poll released Sunday showed the Democrat with 52 percent and Trump with 48 percent. However, these results show a national preference. In the American electoral system, it is possible to lose an election even if you receive more votes at the national level.
In states considered crucial to winning the election, Harris has a narrower lead: 51% to 49%, a slight improvement from the 50% seen last month in a CBS poll.
Another poll released Sunday by NBC shows Harris with a five-point lead in the United States.
The poll also shows that 48 percent of registered voters have a favorable view of her, up from 32 percent in July — the biggest jump since 2001, when George W. Bush’s popularity surged after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But like other polls, the survey shows Trump has a clear lead among voters on some major issues, such as the economy, the cost of living and immigration.
The BBC asked Trump’s campaign for comment on the polls.
Source: Terra
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