U.S. president and Republican bet Donald Trump stand defiant in his claim that he won the election, hours after U.S. networks proclaimed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the polls.
In his White House address on Thursday evening, Trump has refused to concede defeat in an election that saw Biden emerge victorious with 290 electoral votes over Trump’s 214. The outgoing president accused pollsters of meddling with the voting process while saying Democrats are engaging in fraud, claiming that he never testified with any proof.
“I won the election … bad things happened,” Trump emphasized in an all-caps tweet on Saturday afternoon.
In a statement Trump issued earlier, he also alleged Biden and the media were behind the sabotaged poll results and branded them as the “enemy of the people” during his presidency.
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to pose as the winner falsely, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over.”
President Donald Trump
Amidst all the claims he made, Trump never provided substantial detail to back up any of his accusations. His address was also his first appearance to the public after the elections. The Trump campaign took action and filed lawsuits this week to call for a suspension of ballot counts in various significant states that are key to winning the presidency.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” said Trump, while also speaking that if “illegal votes” count, Biden and his allies can try to steal the election from his side.
Early Saturday, Trump left the White House to brace for the last pivotal vote counts from Pennsylvania and other key figure battleground states.
In a stunning turn of events, some Republican leaders opted to distance themselves from the president’s baseless accusations in the polls, a move that caused division in the party.
“If you have [legitimate] concerns about fraud, present evidence, and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation. This is getting insane.”
Republican member Adam Kinzinger
The Democrat Biden, who became the oldest elected president in America’s history, said Trump’s move shows how he attempts to undermine faith in the democratic process. “No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever,” the incoming president said as a response to the outgoing president’s allegations.
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