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‘Democracy is messy, have patience’ says Biden as Trump alleges voting fraud

Democrat presidential contender Joe Biden has called on American voters to have patience, insisting that every vote should be counted as his opponent, White House incumbent Donald Trump, has again made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the election.

Nov 06, 2020, updated Nov 06, 2020
Former President Donald Trump. (Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Former President Donald Trump. (Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump again alleged, without evidence, that the election is being stolen from him, and blasted “Big Media” and “Big Tech” for so-called interference.

Television networks quickly cut away from Trump’s address from the White House briefing room as he made false claim after false claim, some later explaining they had a duty to report the the truth.

He claimed that he will win if “legal votes” are counted, but alleged that local election officials are working to hand the victory to Biden.

“If you count the legal votes I easily win,” he said.

“If you count the illegal votes they can try to steal the election from us.”

Trump made the claims without offering supporting evidence. He cited several legal cases around the country, where his campaign has alleged that Republican observers were not allowed to view the counting process.

“There’s going to be a lot of litigation,” he said.

“It’s going to end up perhaps at the highest court in the land. We can’t have an election stolen like this.”

Trump had earlier made a series of similar claims on Twitter, where they were flagged for being potentially misleading. One read “STOP THE FRAUD!”

MSNBC cut away from the briefing after Trump’s opening remarks. CNN carried the briefing, but warned that it would likely contain misinformation.

“The president is watching the lights go out on his presidency,” CNN correspondent Jim Acosta said before the briefing.

Acosta suggested that the president’s remarks should come with a Surgeon General’s warning: “What you’re about to hear from the president of the United States may not be in line with the facts, may be hazardous to your democracy.”

The race remains too close to call, but Joe Biden is holding leads in enough states to claim the presidency.

His team also said he is likely to emerge the winner in Pennsylvania, where Trump is currently ahead by about 75,000 votes.

Biden also is trailing by just a few thousand votes in Georgia, and could claim a win there.

Trump’s campaign has gone to court in Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan, but has not succeeded in stopping the vote counting.

Trump’s campaign has lost court rulings in the closely-contested states of Georgia and Michigan, even as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada.

In the Georgia case, the campaign alleged 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with on-time ballots. In Michigan, it had sought to stop votes from being counted and obtain greater access to the tabulation process.

State judges tossed out both the suits on Thursday.

Judge James Bass, a superior court judge in Georgia, said there was “no evidence” that the ballots in question were invalid.

In the Michigan case, Judge Cynthia Stephens said: “I have no basis to find that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.”

Trump allies alleged that there had been voting irregularities in Nevada’s populous Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.

A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment on the Michigan and Georgia rulings.

Votes are still being counted in all three states, among a handful of battleground states that could decide the presidency. Democratic challenger Joe Biden has a narrow lead in Nevada, Trump a narrow lead in Georgia, and Biden has been projected to win in Michigan.

-AAP
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