Trump claims election system is ‘under coordinated assault’ in new video

President Trump said he’s “prepared to accept any accurate election result” even as he cited claims of widespread voter fraud in a lengthy video Wednesday in which he alleged the nation’s election system is “under coordinated assault and siege.”

“This election was rigged. Everybody knows it,” Trump said from behind a lectern with the presidential seal in a pre-recorded speech from the White House. “I don’t mind if I lose an election, but I want to lose an election fair and square. What I don’t want to do is have it stolen from the American people. That’s what we’re fighting for.”

Trump claimed widespread voter fraud and unloaded misinformation with little evidence beyond a chart during the 46-minute video, which he captioned as perhaps “the most important speech I’ve ever made.” Twitter flagged a clip of the speech as containing “disputed” claims of fraud while Facebook, where the video was posted in full, linked to election results showing President-elect Joe Biden as the projected winner.

Trump alleged Democrats “had this election rigged right from the beginning” and had used public health concerns amid the pandemic “as an excuse” to expand mail-in voting, which he called the “latest part of their four-year effort to overturn the results of the 2016 election — and it’s been like living in hell.”

He also peddled claims of issues with voting machines and blasted what he called the “massive dump of votes” for Biden from mail-in ballots that flipped states in the Democrat’s favor after Election Day. Mail-in ballots were expected to lean Democrat, and experts had warned ahead of the election that results could change based on which types of ballots — in-person or by mail — states counted first.

Trump’s claims were undercut by his own attorney general, William Barr, who told the Associated Press Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

Biden is projected to earn 306 Electoral College votes, well more than the 270 he needs to clinch the presidency. He received a record 81 million votes, compared to 74 million for Trump.

The Trump campaign’s legal challenges to the results and attempts to delay state’s certifications have proved largely unsuccessful in court. But the president expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would “do what’s right for our country.”

“Ultimately I am prepared to accept any accurate election result,” Trump said.

But as he pledged to restore “faith and confidence in American elections,” he noted that “if we are right about the fraud, Joe Biden can’t be president.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36yby79