Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin fears the vote-counting process in the midterm elections could be disrupted. The Democrat, who is retiring after nearly 30 years in Washington, said the U.S. has never before faced such a dangerous situation during an election period.
At the same time, Durbin said he is watching with enthusiasm as trends favorable to Democrats emerge ahead of the upcoming elections, while also expressing concern about possible interference with the vote count. “With the elections approaching, I know changes are coming, though I can’t yet say how big they will be,” he said. Durbin will end his term in January 2027. He said he hopes a “Democratic wave” will become reality, allowing Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives and perhaps even the Senate.
“I would like to be there if the elections turn out the way I want, so I can take part in restoring the values that I believe have been lost during the first two years of this president’s second term,” he said. President Donald Trump is the reason Durbin is looking ahead to next week with unease. Midterm elections will be held in the U.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting is already under way. “What I fear most is that someone in the Trump administration will try to undermine this election, will try to block the counting of votes they would not want to see, and such actions would be an attack on our Constitution,” the Democrat said. “I worry about that. This president went after his political opponents. He never came to terms with the result of the 2020 election, which he lost by 7 million votes. He never accepted it,” Dick Durbin stressed.
On Tuesday, the president was asked whether he would accept the results of next week’s election. “If it’s a fair election, then yes, I’ll accept it,” Trump replied. Durbin said history will remember Donald Trump as “the most corrupt president in the history of the United States.” “He doesn’t operate behind closed doors. He throws them wide open and asks: So what? He made $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency ventures in the first year of his presidency? My God,” Durbin said.
The senator said the Nov. 3 election is “our chance to speak to the future.” “I know what I would like to see, and I hope that’s what happens. But whatever comes, I think we all have to be ready to accept reality,” the senator said. Durbin, who noted that he co-authored bipartisan bills during President Trump’s first term, said something changed during the second. “I don’t know what happened to Donald Trump in his second term, but he’s a different man now,” he said.
The senator said he does not regret his decision to retire. He is optimistic about Democrats’ chances of taking control of the U.S. Congress, but fears that obstacles could emerge that make it harder to hold free and fair elections.
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Source: Polski.FM