In the closest he has ever come to a concession, outgoing President Donald Trump said on Thursday, 26 November that he will leave the White House if the electoral college votes for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump’s comments, reported by The Guardian, was made at the White House after speaking to troops during the traditional Thanksgiving Day address to US service members. Trump was asked if he would leave the White House if the electoral college certified Biden the winner, Trump said in a first that was inching towards accepting defeat, “Certainly I will. And you know that. If they do, they’ve made a mistake”, said the Republican President.
“It would be a very hard thing to concede,” he added.
Biden is leading the Presidential election with 306 electoral college votes, whereas US President Trump has only won 232 votes. Biden was announced the winner once he crossed the 270 required votes to win and will be inaugurated in the White House on 20 January 2021.
Trump has so far refused to concede to Biden’s victory. In order to challenge Biden from being sworn in as president, Trump has to prevail in at least three states. The campaign has launched a slew of litigation alleging voter fraud, challenging the results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. These efforts, however, have not been fruitful so far, with most being withdrawn by the campaign itself or rejected by courts citing lack of evidence of a rigged election.
Trump continued posting on Twitter on Thursday as well that the election was rigged, with Twitter highlighting that this claim is unsubstantiated.
‘COVID-19 Vaccine To Be Administered Next Week’: Trump
The Electoral College is set on meet on 14 December so every nominated elector will certify the winner from their own state. The votes will be counted by Congress on 6 January, reported Reuters.
Meanwhile, following protocol, the Trump administration has begun the transition process for Biden to formally move into the White House with his staff, but this move has not gone down well with President Trump. “I think it’s not right that he’s trying to pick a Cabinet,” Trump said, reported The Guardian.
In Trump’s Thanksgiving Day addressal, he spoke to troops overseas via video conference from the White House and said that the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine will begin next week. The President said that the vaccine will initially be administered to frontline health workers and senior citizens, reported Reuters.
Trump took credit for the coronavirus vaccines by saying,“Don’t let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they’ve ever been pushed before,” he said.
With US having 13 million COVID-19 positive cases so far, on Thursday, it reported more than 263,000 people in the country had lost their lives to coronavirus.
(With inputs from Reuters and The Guardian)
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