Baker: Be prepared for a recount

With the presidential race too close to call, former Secretary of State and Secretary of Treasury James Baker doesn’t expect a recount next Tuesday evening.

“I don't expect it to happen. I hope it doesn't happen. It would be better for America's democracy if it doesn't happen. But you have to be prepared for it,” Baker said during an interview Thursday on FOX News Channel’s "Special Report with Bret Baier."

Baker, who served as Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff and Treasury secretary, as well as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of State, said that Republicans had not foreseen the infamous recount in Florida in 2000.

“Back in 2000, at least on our side, on the Republican side, we weren't ready for that. ... We, frankly, had not ... foreseen that the election would be as close as it was and that there would be a recount situation. You remember, back in 2000, that only happened after a Vice President [Al] Gore had conceded to Governor Bush and then withdrawn his concession.”

In the case that there was a recount in what Baker described as “fairly close election,” he expected both campaigns to be much more prepared this time around.

“I think both campaigns have learned a lesson from what happened in 2000. And so they've researched the laws of the swing states, the ones that are likely to be close,” Baker told host Bret Baier. “And there are three or four states today, Bret, that require a recount if the result is within a certain number of percentage points. And so it’s … not entirely unlikely that we might have a recount ... in two or three of those states. And that could then trigger what happened in 2000.”

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