President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the election in the briefing room of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington.
Evan Vucci / AP Photo
Without evidence, President Trump falsely claims fraud
The counting of ballots continues after election night most years.
By Alana Wise/NPR
Evan Vucci / AP Photo
President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the election in the briefing room of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington.
(Washington) — President Trump on Thursday evening made his first public remarks since the late-night hours following Election Day, falsely claiming that if only “legal votes” were counted he would “easily win.” He baselessly charged fraud by Democrats and the media.
“If you look at the legal votes, I win very easily,” Trump told reporters from the White House briefing room.
Be patient with results
Results of the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania, and across the country, likely won’t be known for days.
The counting of ballots continues after election night most years. This year’s surge in mailed ballots means election offices need extra time to tally all the votes.
Winners will be decided when all the votes are counted — that’s the American election system at work.
WITF’s journalists are covering that process, and WITF is relying on The Associated Press to call races for the winner based on the AP’s rigorous, time-tested method.
“They’re trying very obviously to commit fraud,” he said, speaking particularly harshly about Philadelphia and Detroit.
Votes from the county that includes Philadelphia have helped the Democratic nominee Joe Biden close Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania. The Associated Press has called Michigan, and its 16 electoral votes, for Biden.
The president left after speaking for several minutes and did not take reporters’ questions.
In his remarks, Trump railed against the process of mail-in voting, which saw a significant uptick this election cycle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He baselessly claimed that the process of counting mailed-in ballots had been tainted and complained that many of the absentee votes had been cast for Biden.
“I’ve said very strongly that mail-in ballots are going to end up being a disaster,” he said. “It’s getting worse and worse every day.”
Trump complained repeatedly that Republican observers had not gained sufficient access to vote-counting locations, which the campaign has filed lawsuits over in Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
However, the suits in Michigan and Nevada were quickly dismissed by state courts. A state court judge in Pennsylvania affirmed on Wednesday that observers have a right to be within 6 feet of the ballot-counting operation, but a federal judge threw out a prospective lawsuit on Thursday in which Trump’s campaign asked for voting in Philadelphia to be halted.
Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
