US President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to declare that the Constitution should be protected from those responsible for alleged violations during the election, as he said that "large numbers" of poll observers were "thrown out of vote counting rooms in many of our States," and that millions of ballots were altered by the Democrats. His tweets were immediately flagged and labelled by the social media platform as being a "disputed claim" regarding alleged voter fraud in the presidential election.
Previously, he shared in a tweet that major lawsuits are coming to show the "unconstitutionality of the 2020 election". Trump also said that many of the lawsuits concerning suggested irregularities have been filed not by his administration, but by Americans who witnessed "horrible abuses".
In a tweet several hours earlier, Trump said, "[Biden] won because the Election was Rigged", spurring a lot of fuss on social media, with netizens wondering if he had conceded. However, the president clarified later in another tweet that he has conceded nothing, suggesting he will continue the legal battle against what he calls election fraud.
Vote Counting Continues
Though the presidential election took place almost two weeks ago, the final outcome is still to be announced, since all states have to certify their election results. As of today, major US media outlets project Democrat Biden as the president-elect. The former vice president in the Obama administration has already claimed victory in the presidential race, outlining his "first steps in office" and picking the new White House chief of staff.
While Biden has already held phone conversations with several leaders, he is not receiving daily intelligence briefings, which has fuelled complaints from his team. His transition aide Jen Psaki has said that the team wants to "get access to intelligence information" so that they can "prepare to govern".
However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said earlier this week that it will not contact Biden's transition team until the General Services Administration ascertains Biden as the likely president-elect.
'Rigged' Election
Trump has so far refused to concede, saying that this year's election saw massive fraud and voter irregularities. The president cited witness accounts of false ballots cast, dead people voting, possible machine system glitches, adding that Republican observers were not allowed to watch vote counting. He has also argued that on the night of Election Day, polls in several key states showed him winning, but the situation changed in a few hours to show Biden ahead.
"He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!", Trump tweeted earlier on Sunday.
Following the preliminary results, Trump demanded suspension of the counting of votes and probes into suggested violations. His campaign has filed multiple lawsuits in several states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, claiming voting irregularities.
In a phone talk with TV host and investigative journalist Geraldo Rivera, Trump said that he is a "realist" who will do the "right things", but wants to see "what states do in terms of certification". He told Rivera that if he was "satisfied that every legitimate vote had been counted and every illegitimate vote had been thrown out", he would definitely concede.