Baring last minutes change of mind, the United States (US) President Donald Trump has vowed to begin a legal battle today, Monday, November 9, against the victory of President-elect, Senator Joe Biden.
Trump who has refused to call and congratulate Biden over 24 hours after Biden’s victory at the polls, vowed through his team to challenge the election in Court.
He is still fuming at the emergence of Biden as winner of the Presidential election, Saturday evening, as he has declared that the race is ‘far from over.’
Trump who is currently at his Virginia golf course, refused to send his congratulatory message to Biden as has become traditional at the end of all Presidential polls.
Moments after the Pennsylvania result was released which showed Biden scaling the Electoral Votes winning number by over 20 points, Trump said in a statement from his campaign that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner,” and call the race “far from over,” adding further that his campaign’s legal battle will begin Monday.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.
“I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands,” Trump says in the statement.
This is also some of his legal team of advisors have dampened his hopes of a victory at the court.
Already two judges have thrown out his suit filed against the elections in two states, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Early Saturday evening, few moments before the election result was declared in Biden’s favour, Trump falsely tweeted via his Twitter handle (@realDonaldTrump) without evidence, “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”
His post was immediately flagged as misleading by Twitter.
Trump has vowed to explore legal means to challenge the results. He claimed without evidence the election was rigged.
His lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, had repeatedly attacked the election results at a news conference on Saturday morning held shortly after major news outlets declared Joseph R. Biden Jr. the winner of the presidential race.
Speaking outside a landscaping business in Philadelphia, Mr. Giuliani went as far as to suggest that the courts in Pennsylvania may want to “set aside” the tally there.
Though President Trump initially led in the early vote totals in Pennsylvania, he lost that lead as the remaining ballots were counted.
For the cameras, Giuliani assembled a group of poll watchers who he said were not given an opportunity to see the ballots they were supposed to be monitoring.
He used their accounts to launch a broad attack on voting across Pennsylvania, where there is no evidence of any widespread voting fraud or irregularities.
“Courts set aside elections when they’re illegal,” Mr. Giuliani said at the news conference, which was scheduled before the race was called.
“In this particular case, I don’t know if there’s enough evidence to set aside the entire election. Certainly not around the country, maybe in Pennsylvania.”
The Trump campaign has filed several lawsuits in Pennsylvania, but most have little chance of succeeding and would be unlikely to make any significant difference in the vote count.
However, for other top Republican chieftains, like Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee is not waiting for Trump to concede. He’s congratulated Biden and Harris and praised them “as people of good will and admirable character.”
However, reactions have continued to pour in congratulating the President-Elect Biden, from allies and friends of the country and new President.
Democratic Party top shots, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer called Biden at 12:45 p.m. to congratulate him and extend their support for working with his administration, an aide said.
Barack Obama expressed confidence in his former vice president: “I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote.”
In Oakland, California, the birthplace of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Mayor Libby Schaaf was in tears on Saturday as she spoke about the victory.
“I’m proud, I’m relieved. I’m joyful,” Ms. Schaaf said in an interview, her voice cracking with emotion with nearly every word. “We will finally have decency and compassion in our nation’s highest office.”
