President Donald Trump spent part of his Thanksgiving denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, claiming it was “100% rigged” and refusing to accept that President-elect Joe Biden received 80 million votes. Trump continued claiming there was widespread voter fraud, despite a lack of evidence, during a contentious press conference with reporters Thursday. Trump said it would be a “very hard thing to concede” to Biden and said it would be a “mistake” for the Electoral College to finalize Biden’s win in December.
On Thursday morning, Trump blasted the election results. “Just saw the vote tabulations. There is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes!!! This was a 100% RIGGED ELECTION,” he tweeted. As of Thursday, Biden has received over 80 million votes, the most ever for a presidential candidate, according to the Associated Press. He is projected to win the Electoral College with 306. Trump has received over 73.9 million votes and projected to receive 232 Electoral College votes.
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JUST IN: President Trump calls GOP Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the “enemy of the people” as he makes repeated false claims about the 2020 election. pic.twitter.com/1gjvZ4lMq3
— The Hill (@thehill) November 26, 2020
Later, Trump spoke with reporters at the White House, taking questions for the first time since the election after he spoke with U.S. military leaders. Trump told reporters he would “certainly” leave the White House if Biden is officially declared the winner of the presidential race, reports The Hill. “If they do, they made a mistake,” Trump added. He also told reporters it is “going to be a very hard thing to concede.” Later, Trump said he does not “know what is going to happen,” but, “I know one thing, Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes. He also claimed some votes for him were tossed out.
Trump also called election officials in Georgia and Pennsylvania “enemies of the state,” and accused them of being responsible for vote fraud, reports the AP. Officials in those states, which proved key to Biden’s victory, have denied allegations of widespread voter fraud. The Trump campaign has also seen several of its legal challenges end unsuccessfully.
MOMENTS AGO: After making several false claims about the election such as, “I did win by a tremendous amount,” President Trump leaves the room as a reporters ask, “Isn’t this the language of a dictator?” and “Mr. President, some people claim you’re denying reality.” pic.twitter.com/ACn5rO9AnF
— The Hill (@thehill) November 26, 2020
The president also said he plans to travel to Georgia for rallies to support Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. The two Republicans are in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in races that will determine which party takes control of the Senate. Trump said his rally will be on Saturday, although the White House later confirmed it will not be until Saturday, Dec. 5.
At the end of the press conference, Trump insisted it was a “rigged election.” As he left the table, reporters continued asking questions, including one who asked “Isn’t this the language of a dictator?” Another shouted, “Mr. President, some people claim you’re denying reality.” Trump refused to comment and left the room.
