Biden, Harris warn of Trump threat to US democracy as presidential election looms

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is “not confident” Donald Trump would concede peacefully if he loses the US election, as the Republican’s rival Kamala Harris warned a Trump victory would usher in a lawless administration set on curtailing Americans’ freedoms.

Trump has been impeached twice and indicted twice over various alleged attempts to cheat in the 2020 election – which he still has not acknowledged he lost – and was convicted of 34 felonies over a hush money scheme to deceive voters in 2016.

His false claims of widespread fraud in 2020 preceded the storming of the US Capitol – and the wounding of more than 100 police officers – by a violent mob determined to prevent the certification of his defeat.

“If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” Biden told US network CBS after he was asked if he expected a peaceful transfer of power in 2025.

“He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously,” Biden warned. “He means it.”