Bernie Sanders says there are a 'number of plans' to force Trump from office if he refuses to peacefully transfer power

• There are a "number of plans" to remove Donald Trump out of office if he refuses to leave the White House after losing the election, Senator Bernie Sanders has said.
• Sanders said the Democrats had prepared a series of contingency plans if the president refuses to leave.
• Trump doubled down on Friday, after refusing this week to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
• A former aide to Vice President Mike Pence said the possibility of Trump refusing to quit has been discussed in the White House.

There are a "number of plans" to force Donald Trump from office if he refuses to leave the White House after losing the presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders has said.

The former presidential hopeful told Bill Maher on Friday that the Democrats have prepared a series of contingency strategies if the president refuses to concede defeat in November.

"The bottom line is there are things that we have to do now to make sure that Biden wins," Sanders told Maher.

"And if Trump attempts to stay in office after losing, there will be a number of plans out there to make sure that he is evicted from office."

The president this week refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.

"We're going to have to see what happens, you know, but I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots. The ballots are a disaster," Trump told a White House briefing on Wednesday.

He later doubled down on the comments telling supporters on Friday that "We are not going to lose this, except if they cheat."

"We do want a very friendly transition. But we don't want to be cheated. And be stupid ... And we know that there were thousands and thousands of ballots that made the difference through cheating. We're not going to stand for it."

A former aide to Vice President Mike Pence said this week that Trump refusing to leave office has been discussed in the White House.

"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," said Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence who served on the coronavirus task force.