Kellyanne Conway, a former senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, said she could “certainly” imagine a world in which Trump would gracefully concede defeat to Vice President Harris if he lost the election.
At the end of a lengthy live interview at The Atlantic Festival 2024 on Thursday, journalist Tim Alberta posed one final question to Trump's 2016 campaign manager, asking for a “quick yes or no answer.”
“Can you imagine a scenario where Trump loses and gracefully concedes defeat?” Alberta asked, drawing laughter from the audience.
“Yes,” Conway replied.
“Can you do that?” he asked.
“Yes, of course you can. Yes, of course,” she said, before shifting focus to a push for another debate between the major party candidates.
Trump has refused to accept the results of the 2020 election and has sowed doubt about the outcome. On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters overpowered police and stormed the Capitol, leading to the evacuation of House and Senate members, which delayed Congress' certification of the election results.
All of this raises the question of how Trump would handle the outcome of losing the 2024 election.
Trump has not said explicitly that he would accept the election results. “If I believe it was an honest election, absolutely I would accept it,” he said at a CNN town hall in May 2023.
“If you think this is an honest election, I'd be honored,” he said.
A survey earlier this year found that 74% of Americans said they expected Trump to not concede if he lost.
