Economist Stephen Moore, a longtime ally of Donald Trump who advised his 2016 presidential campaign, said on Friday that it would harm the nation’s economy if Trump delays the election process by refusing to concede.
But Moore declined to weigh in on whether Trump should accept defeat, calling the margins in decisive states “razor tight” and saying that the decision ultimately falls to Trump.
When asked by Yahoo Finance whether Trump’s refusal to concede the election could damage the U.S. economy and disturb markets, Moore replied: “Yes, that is one of the costs of holding this up.”
“We are a country that has political stability — that’s one of our many assets,” adds Moore, a member of the White House economic recovery task force.
Moore assured that Trump will concede if he concludes that the race can no longer be won.
“I have full confidence he’ll do the patriotic thing. If he truly believes that there’s no path to victory, then he’ll concede,” Moore says. “That’s what all his advisers will tell him to do.”
‘The race is not over’
As of Friday afternoon, Trump trailed Democratic nominee Joe Biden in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. But each of those states showed a margin below 45,000 votes and had outstanding votes still to be counted, according to The New York Times.
Outlets such as Vox and Business Insider — which rely on Decision Desk HQ for vote reporting — on Friday called Biden the victor in Pennsylvania and in turn the winner of the overall election. But no major television network had followed suit, as of early Friday afternoon.
The Trump campaign said in a statement on Friday: “The race is not over.”
In recent weeks, Wall Street has focused on the possibility of election-related unrest as Trump has raised unfounded concerns about widespread voter fraud and refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.
Fitch Ratings cautioned last month last that a deviation from "well-understood rules and processes for the transfer of power" could cause the U.S. to lose its AAA rating.
Moore, a potential Trump nominee last year to the Federal Reserve board who ultimately withdrew from consideration, downplayed the severity of the harm of a delayed concession and cited the possible need to investigate election fraud allegations leveled by the Trump campaign.
“Would it be that horrible for the country to wait another week to make sure there hasn't been fraud?” he says.
The Trump campaign has not shown any evidence of widespread voter fraud, and Moore declined to say whether he thought any fraud had been committed.
Speaking with Yahoo Finance last month, Moore made similar remarks about the economic implications of a contested election.
“If you have a disputed election, it will be bad for financial markets,” he said on Oct. 2. “Markets don't like uncertainty. One of the many, many reasons we're a premier place in the world to invest in is we have political stability.”
Max Zahn is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Find him on twitter @MaxZahn_.
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