Republican senators planning how to force Trump out if he loses election, Carl Bernstein claims

President has refused to commit to peaceful transfer of power on numerous occasions

Carl Bernstein has claimed that there are a significant number of Republicans in the senate who are making a “plan” for how they would “restrain” president Donald Trump in the event of a constitutional crisis following the election.

In an interview with CNN’s Ana Cabrera, Mr Woodward was questioned what he thought would happen if Mr Trump loses the election but refuses to accept the results.

Mr Bernstein said that Republicans in the Senate are trying to come up with a “plan” for if “the president provokes a constitutional crisis" and that they “believe he will".

 “They will try to find a way to let law and order and the constitution prevail,” he said.

The journalist and author added: “There are about six, eight, 10 Republicans in the senate who are talking with each other about how to restrain what they regard as an out-of-control, almost madman…who is determined to do anything to hold on to office regardless of its legality.”

The president has on a number of occasions refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in the event he loses the 3 November presidential election to democratic rival Joe Biden.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Mr Trump said in September, making reference to his continued criticism of increased mail-in voting which he has baselessly said will lead to widespread voter fraud.

At a town hall event aired on NBC this month the president finally committed to peaceful transfer of power, but still raised questions about his faith in the election process.

He said: "They talk about, ‘Will you accept a peaceful transfer?’ And the answer is yes, I will – but I want it to be an honest election, and so does everybody else".

The president has launched a tireless campaign against mail-in voting this year, which has been pushed for by Democrats amidst the coronavirus pandemic as a safe means of casting a balot, by tweeting and speaking out critically about the practice.

Mr Bernstein, who did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal, has been a vocal critic of the president in the run up to the election.

During the interview he explained that he believes that Mr Trump Intends to prolong the count and make it impossible for the electoral college to meet and reach a majority.

“I think he's been very strenuous about telling people around him that he intends to use every tool in his command to see that there is no way that the Democrats and Joe Biden can win this election," he said.

The journalist claimed that some Republicans in Congress were “terribly terribly concerned” about what they regard as “the president's brush with unconstitutional and unthinkable acts to undermine the electoral process”.