Going? Going? Wrong: Trump golfs after pledging court battle
Trump refuses to accept Biden victory
Joe Biden’s victory in the race to the White House was confirmed yesterday despite his rival Donald Trump refusing to accept defeat.
Trump insisted the presidential election was “far from over” after the count in Philadelphia swung to Biden giving him a guaranteed victory.
Accepting the victory, the Democrat, who will be 78 in 12 days, vowed to work for “all of America”.
But Trump, who enjoyed a round of golf, refused to conceded defeat while making fresh claims about electoral fraud without producing any evidence.
He left the White House for one of his golf courses in Virginia, where he issued a statement warning that his legal challenge would reach court tomorrow.
Biden, the former vice president when Barack Obama was in the White House, yesterday passed the threshold of 270 electoral college votes needed for victory in the presidential race after winning the state of Pennsylvania.
His running mate Kamala Harris will be the first woman and the first black person to become vice president.
Biden tweeted: “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”
He also issued a statement, saying: “In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
Harris also posted a tweet, which accompanied by a video showing Americans from diverse backgrounds with the song America, The Beautiful, by Ray Charles.
She wrote: “This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
Their victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of postal votes that delayed the processing of some ballots.
But a defiant Trump refused to accept the result, leaving the White House for his golf course in Sterling, Virginia.
In a statement, Trump said: “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner 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.
“Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.”
Trump added: “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.
“The American people are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots and not counting any illegal ballots.
“This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election.
“It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured or cast by ineligible or deceased voters.
“Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access. So what is Biden
hiding? I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count they deserve and that democracy demands.”
Christopher Carman, professor of politics at Glasgow University, said: “The established norm for most former presidents is to gracefully announce they are stepping aside, that there is going to be a peaceful transition of power and they will do everything they can to support the new administration. It is one of the final presidential norms that Trump has upturned.”
Earlier, Trump fired off a series of messages on social media, insisting that he had won the election “by a lot” and that that “bad things happened” inside counting centres.
Trump’s allies have remained largely silent, in sharp contrast to their confidence earlier in the week and news conferences about legal challenges.
But his unfounded allegations saw armed protesters gather outside offices where workers were counting votes.
High turnout, a huge number of postal ballots because of the Covid-19 pandemic and slim margins between the two candidates all contributed to the delay in naming a winner.
Trump’s claims were dismissed by the United States’ top election official yesterday, who said there was no evidence of any kind of voter fraud.
Federal Election Commission commissioner Ellen Weintraub said: “State and local officials and poll workers throughout the country really stepped up. And there have been very few complaints about how this election has run.
“Very few substantiated complaints, let me put it that way. There is no evidence of any kind of voter fraud.
“There is no evidence of illegal votes being cast. In fact, and you don’t have to take my word for it because people throughout the country, nonpartisan election experts, have come out and hailed this election and how it was run.
“If you want to look at the state of Pennsylvania, which the president seems to be focused on, Senator Pat Toomey has come out and said he has seen no evidence of fraud there. The Republican leader of the state senate there has also said he has seen no evidence of fraud.”
Election officials in several states said the anger outside their doors made them fear for the safety of their employees.
Around 100 of Mr Trump’s supporters gathered for a third straight day on Friday in front of the Phoenix elections centre in Arizona. “Arrest the poll workers!” the crowd chanted, demanding four more years in office for Trump.
Biden is now preparing to take over the White House. He has promised to create the most diverse cabinet in US history and his first senior officials could be named this week, including Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general under President Barack Obama, who has advised Biden for months on Covid-19 pandemic.
Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, said that she felt “overwhelmed” and “relieved” at the election result.
Earlier she warned that Trump would seek revenge for losing the presidential election. She said: “One thing that’s really important about Donald is if he thinks he’s going down, he’s going to try to take the rest of us with him.”