U.S. President Donald Trump said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College declared Joe Biden the election winner.
He said he was not prepared to concede defeat and repeated false claims that he won.
The president said that he would “certainly” leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for Biden, telling reporters on a press call “you know that.”
But he also repeated claims of “massive fraud” in the election, without providing supporting evidence, and said an Electoral College appointment of Biden would be a “mistake.”
“I know one thing, Joe Biden didn’t get 80 million votes,” Trump said, according to reporters who dialled in.
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“It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede,” Trump said when asked what he will do if the Electoral College elects his Democratic opponent.
According to forecasts by the U.S. media, Biden has secured 306 electoral college votes, significantly more than the majority of 270 votes necessary to win.
Each state must officially certify their vote tallies before deadlines in early December.
The Electoral College vote and the ultimate declaration of the winner by Congress on Jan. 6 are usually symbolic events, but since Trump has declined to concede, they may take on more significance this time.
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In the national popular vote count – a metric to gauge popularity but with no legal meaning – Biden leads Trump, with about 80 million votes to some 73.9 for the incumbent.
Trump is pursuing numerous court cases to try to stop Biden from being declared the winner. (dpa/NAN)