Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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101. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there have been discussions with the American Ambassador to Ireland with regard to the very worrying comments from the current President of the United States, stating they will not accept the results of the upcoming Presidential election if they do not win; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28552/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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117. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has discussed with his colleagues in Europe or if he has concerns regarding the statements made by President Donald Trump that he would not accept the outcome of the forthcoming US elections if he does not win; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28544/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Barely a week goes by that President Donald Trump does not do something else that horrifies me and threatens either his own society or the wider world in some way. One of the more disturbing suggestions of recent times is that he would not accept the outcome of an election if he lost it. That is a serious business when one considers the extremely tense situation that exists in the US. Has the Minister any reaction to those sorts of suggestions from President Trump?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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To respond more generally, as this House knows, Ireland and the United States share strong ties of kinship and enjoy close diplomatic and political relations, as well as enduring economic, cultural and social connections. These deep connections span right across the political spectrum in the US. With each successive Administration in the White House and with successive Irish Governments, the relationship has been valued and strengthened to the benefit of our people and that continues today.

I was in Washington last week, as the Deputy knows, and got an incredibly warm and supportive response when I outlined Ireland's vulnerabilities in the context of ongoing Brexit negotiations. While I was in the US, I made a real point of not getting involved in, or commenting on, the presidential election. We are in the middle of a campaign at the moment with less than a month to go and while everybody has their views about the candidates and the issues that are being debated, it is probably appropriate not to get into a commentary on the election.

In response to the question the Deputy asked, I am confident that the democratic institutions in the United States are robust and strong enough. It will be a more complex election than we have seen in many years because of the changes in the way in which people will be voting because of Covid-19, the increased use of postal ballots and so on. There may not be a result on election night in the same way that there normally would. Those things notwithstanding, I am still confident, having spoken to a number of people in the United States about it, that the relevant institutions will ensure that there is a result. If that means a transition of power to a new President, that will happen. If it means a continuation of the existing Administration, that will happen.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The problem is that we are dealing with President Trump. I have definite views and want the President to lose the election. I do not have much faith in Joe Biden but we have to get rid of President Trump. I do not expect the Minister to say that. The President was essentially threatening civil war. That is not an idle threat when one considers what has happened in the United States over the past few months. There has been war on the streets and cities have exploded. The President is leaning on terrifying and, in some cases, openly fascist forces, such as the Ku Klux Klan, which he refuses to condemn. He is essentially threatening a race war and civil war if he does not win the election. Sometimes one has to name the problem. This is not the normal run of politics, this is far more serious. This is a man who does not care about the truth, telling lies or the consequences of his actions and is threatening civil war. That sort of threat to democracy has to be called out in a serious way.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That is why the election is getting the kind of profile and media attention it is, even through extraordinary times in the United States. If people are not telling the truth, I expect that to be exposed in a democratic contest such as this. As I said, we need to be careful not to interfere in this election. Having spoken to many people in Washington, regardless of what candidates say, the system of democracy in the United States is robust and strong, and will ensure that, after people have voted in the presidential election in a few weeks' time, the result will be followed through on in a way that upholds democratic standards.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Something that people rarely remark upon is that the country that produced the Nazis was the most developed and advanced society in Europe, almost bar none, at the time. It descended into horror beyond belief. That was a political force that never gained more than 33% support in an open election and which engineered its rise to power through a lie about the burning of the Reichstag. Those events start to have terrifying echoes. I am not saying that Donald Trump is Adolf Hitler but he is playing around with political forces that are heading very dangerously in that direction and threatening this kind of behaviour. Sometimes one just has to say that this stuff is too lethal and dangerous. One can see that President Trump is whipping up and encouraging political forces even in this country and across Europe. We cannot treat that in the normal way. It has to be called out as something that must be politically defeated, challenged and driven out of the political arena.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Divisive language in politics that pits people against each other is never something that should be supported. Supporting or encouraging racist forces is something that should never be supported and I hope will always be stamped out in this country and in other democracies.

I am not somebody who is afraid of mincing my words on some of these issues. As I said, we are a few weeks away from an election in the United States. We need to allow that process to take its course. I have never visited the United States at a time when I have seen it as divided as it is now. The most powerful country in the world is divided in the midst of a pandemic that is affecting it in an incredibly impactful and tragic way. I hope this election will be able to facilitate a new beginning, in some ways, to allow more healing in the United States. It is a terribly divided place right now.