With hours remaining until Election Day, 2024 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump is locked in a tight race with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Reuters spoke with Paul A. Beck, Professor Emeritus and Academy Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University, to get his take on the implications of a loss or a win for the former President.
“If Trump is defeated, he will not accept the result and will do everything he can to try to prevent that count on, I think it’s January 5th this year, where they’re certifying the presidential electoral votes,” said Paul A. Beck, Professor Emeritus and Academy Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University, in an interview with Reuters.
“It’s apparent, in fact, from things that have come out over the last few months and even after the 2020 contest itself, he tried to pull out all stops to try to prevent that outcome. He will do that again, but not from the kind of position of power that he had back in 2020 and 2020, early 2021.”
Trump continues to falsely claim his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud in multiple states that Trump lost, while he and his supporters have spread baseless claims about this current election in Pennsylvania.
Beck said voters have a choice between the status quo versus “really radical changes at the national level.”
A Harris win, he said, would bring “incremental change” from the Biden administration.
In contrast, a Trump win would bring “colossal change.”
“I’ve referred to it in other interviews as burning down the house, in effect,” Beck said.
“There would almost be nothing that could prevent him from doing what he wants to do.”
On the campaign trail, Trump has threatened mass deportation of illegal immigrants and retribution against his detractors.
A Harris win could set the stage for a major legal fight.
