BARACK OBAMA HAS said Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election that delivered victory for Democrat Joe Biden is putting the United States on a “dangerous path”.
Trump is trying to convince the people that they should not believe the numbers that clearly demonstrate his rival’s win.
Rather, he is making baseless claims of massive fraud, demanding recounts and calling for audits in an effort to discredit the outcome and, in the process, put democracy itself on trial.
Obama, who invited Trump to the White House soon after his election win four years ago and pledged co-operation in the transfer of power, said he is not shocked that a man who “never admits loss” is refusing to acknowledge defeat now.
“I’m more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials, who clearly know better, are going along with this, are humouring him in this fashion,” Obama told CBS show 60 Minutes.
“It is one more step in delegitimising not just the incoming Biden administration but democracy generally. And that’s a dangerous path.”
Obama’s comments come after Trump appeared to accidentally acknowledge Biden’s victory in a tweet yesterday morning, before quickly reversing course to claim he won, and again push unsubstantiated claims of mass electoral fraud.
“He won because the Election was Rigged,” Trump tweeted.
The first two words – coming days after a verbal slip in which Trump said “time will tell” if he remains president – were immediately seized upon as one more step towards a concession.
But the president soon made a U-turn, tweeting: “He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go.”
And last night he said “I WON THE ELECTION!” in a tweet swiftly flagged by Twitter.
President-elect Biden captured 306 Electoral College votes in the 3 November election – 36 more than needed to win the White House.
Senior federal and state election authorities, including a top cybersecurity agency and 16 federal prosecutors assigned to monitor the elections, have rejected claims of widespread election tampering.
Includes reporting by Press Association and © AFP 2020
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