Former Pence aide says staffers discussed Trumps potential refusal to leave the White House

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A former White House aide said Friday that staffers discussed the possibility that President Trump would refuse to peacefully leave his post and transfer power should he lose the Nov. 3 election.

Olivia Troye, who worked on the White House Coronavirus Task Force along with being an aide to Vice President Mike Pence on counterterrorism and homeland security, left the administration in August and told CNN Friday, that she and other staffers held “closed door” conversations regarding the president’s unwillingness to exit the office.

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“It’s frightening to me, because to be honest, during my tenure at the White House, I’ve had conversations behind closed doors with White House staffers and other government officials, including people in the intelligence community, where we’ve actually discussed what if, what if he loses and refuses to leave, or better yet, what if his plan is four more years of Donald Trump should he win, and would he leave after that?” Troye told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Troye left the administration well before Trump’s refusal to say whether or not he’d peacefully transition power should he lose the election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said in response to a reporter. “You know, I’ve been complaining about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster.”

Trump has repeatedly questioned the security of mail-in ballots calling them a “scam” and alleging that they will lead to invalid election results.

While more than half of all Americans are expected to vote by mail as a result of the coronavirus, which is reportedly on the rise again in 22 states, 40 percent of voters in 2016 and 2012 voted by mail with scant evidence of voter fraud.

“Get rid of the ballots, you’ll have a very transfer — you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation,” Trump added during a Wednesday press conference.

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“The president when he's joking, if he says that he's joking, he's telling you a half truth,” Troye said. “And in there is something fairly frightening and scary.”

Since leaving the White House in August, Troye has emerged as a harsh critic of the administration, particularly in Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

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“If the president had taken this virus seriously, or if he had actually made an effort to tell how serious it was, he would have slowed the virus spread, he would have saved lives," Troye said in an ad released earlier this month according to Politico.

Troye, a conservative, has endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden.