Trump Maintains Election Fraud, Accepts to Leave White House
The United States President, Donald Trump has said he will leave the White House if the Electoral College certifies Joe Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election.
He made the assertion Thursday while speaking at the White House with newsmen after a Thanksgiving teleconference with members of the military.
Thursday’s chat is coming for the first time since his election defeat and the closest the United States president has come to conceding the contest.
Recall that Trump who lost his re-election bid to his opponent Biden had refused to concede defeat saying the election witnessed malpractices.
When asked by a reporter gathered at the White House’s diplomatic room if he would physically leave the building should the Electoral College affirms Biden’s victory, Trump replied, “certainly I will, and you know that.” But he swiftly maintained that there was “massive fraud and massive rigging” in the election, insisting that the court cases challenging the election outcome will continue.
Trump was further pressed on whether he would ever acknowledge defeat but said it would “be a very hard thing to concede,” even if the Electoral College confirms Biden’s victory. “If they do, they’ve made a mistake,” he said. “This election was a fraud.”
The Electoral College electors in each state are due to vote on December 14. Certificates recording the electoral vote results in each state must be received by the president of the Senate no later than December 23. Biden is certified as the winner or leading, in states totaling 306 electoral votes, well above the victory threshold of 270, while Trump got 232 electoral votes.
Trump acknowledged that the whole world is watching what becomes the fate of American democracy. “The whole world is watching and the whole world is laughing at our electoral process,” he said.
The President declined to say if he would attend Biden’s inauguration next year, as is the custom for an outgoing president. “I’ll be honest, I know the answer, but I just don’t want to say it yet,” he said, adding that it is “not right” that Biden has begun picking a cabinet.
He declined to say if he would seek the presidency again in 2024, as has been widely rumored. “I don’t want to talk about 2024 yet,” he replied.
The President has however maintained his stand on the outcome of the election maintaining that he was robbed of his place.
