WASHINGTON DC, USA: President Donald Trump has said he will leave office if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden but made clear he’s not prepared to concede.
“Certainly I will, and you know that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter about leaving the White House if Biden is declared the winner on December 14. “I will and, you know that.”
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud,” Trump said without evidence.
He has refused to concede, citing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Individual states are currently certifying their results after Biden was projected as the winner with an unassailable lead.
The Democrat leads Trump 306 votes to 232 under the electoral college system that is used to pick US presidents.
The tally is far more than the 270 needed to win, and Biden also leads the popular vote by more than six million.
Electors will meet to formalise the result on December 14, with Mr Biden due to be sworn in as president on January 20.
“As to whether or not we can get this apparatus moving quickly — because time isn’t on our side, everything else is on our side, facts are on our side, this was a massive fraud.”
The president falsely added that if Biden is declared the winner, the Electoral College, “made a mistake, cause this election was a fraud.” Pressed on his comments, Trump snapped at the reporter. “Don’t talk to me that way. I’m the President of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way,” he said.
Thursday was the first time Trump has taken questions from reporters since the election.
Ever since Biden is projected winner in elections results earlier this month, Trump has refused to accept the results, instead of pushing baseless conspiracies that his second term is being stolen and launching a legal effort to overturn results.
Related story: Trump faces pressure from Republicans to drop fight to overturn election
This includes falsely claiming during an election night address that he had already won reelection, that he had already won states that were actually still up in the air at the time and that his opponents were perpetrating a fraud.
In response, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement earlier this month, “the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
To this point, the Trump campaign’s lawsuits have been repeatedly dismissed or dropped, and earlier this week, the General Services Administration informed Biden that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process.
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