McEnany won’t say if Trump would accept election result if he loses

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday would not say whether President Trump would accept the results of the November election if he is not declared the winner, adding to comments from the president in recent days sowing doubt about the outcome of the vote.

McEnany was asked twice about Trump’s comments earlier this week in which he claimed that the only way he would lose in November is if the election is “rigged.” She did not answer directly either time.

“The president believes he’s done a great job for the American people, and that will show in November,” she told one reporter, adding that Trump “believes that voter fraud is real,” particularly with mail ballots. Experts have said there is scant evidence of meaningful fraud associated with mail-in voting.

“He wants a fair election, and he wants confidence in the results of the election,” McEnany added.

“Is the president saying if he doesn’t win this election — that he will not accept the results unless he wins?” another reporter asked.

“The president has always said he’ll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath. It’s the same thing he said last election,” McEnany said.

The president has in recent week increasingly called into question the possible result of November’s election, including with relentless attacks on mail-in voting amid a pandemic that will likely force millions of Americans to vote by mail.

He told Chris Wallace in a “Fox News Sunday” interview in late July that he would wait to see the results of the vote before deciding whether to accept them.

He has taken to pushing the false claim that the result could take months or even years to determine if mail ballots are widely used, and on Monday, Trump told supporters that “the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”