Trump stokes a new threat to Wall Street: Election chaos

September 24, 2020 ☼ trumpelection-2020liesforecast

Source: POLITICO - Link

Wall Street can deal with whoever wins the presidential election this fall. What investors can’t stomach — and are increasingly nervous about — is a rapid descent into banana republic-style chaos, in which the result is either unclear for months or President Donald Trump loses but refuses to leave office.

The fears kicked up to a higher level this week after Trump said he would not necessarily commit to a peaceful transition should he lose on Nov. 3. “We’re going to have to see what happens,” the president said about handing over power. “You know, I’ve been complaining about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster.”

They were Trump’s sharpest comments to date about contesting the election, coming just as Americans start voting and less than six weeks before Election Day. Though Trump has repeatedly complained about the potential for widespread voter fraud — despite multiple studies suggesting such fraud is extremely rare — his latest warning came against a backdrop of rising angst nationwide about a polarizing fall.