Washington, Nov. 17, (dpa/GNA) – US President Donald Trump is claiming, without proof, that this month’s election was the “most fraudulent” ever, as his predecessor, Barack Obama, warns that the incumbent is “denying reality” and likely to cause real harm.
Overnight, in all capital letters, Trump also posted on social media: “I WON THE ELECTION!” Twitter quickly flagged the comment, warning it contains misinformation. The social media giant has been playing cat-and-mouse with Trump tweeting false information for weeks.
Officials have said the November 3 presidential election was secure and there was no evidence of major irregularities.
Democrat Joe Biden, the president-elect, is continuing to move ahead with his transition ahead of the inauguration on January 20, despite no cooperation from the White House. He is prioritizing the coronavirus pandemic, as cases continue to soar.
The US jumped from 10 million recorded cases to 11 million in less than a week. Deaths are sharply rising and medical workers are becoming overwhelmed.
Former president Obama is doing a series of interviews in the US media and has been sharply critical of Trump for refusing to cooperate on the transition and to concede the election.
“When your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego, and your own interests, and your own disappointments,” Obama said on broadcaster CBS.
On National Public Radio, Obama said he does not believe Trump will end up being “successful in denying reality,” but warned that the president’s antics were not cost-free. “The amount of time that’s being lost in this transition process has real-world effects. Look, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. We’re in the middle of an economic crisis. We have serious national security issues,” Obama said.
Biden on Monday said the refusal of the Trump administration to work on the transition to the next administration would hurt efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and lead to more deaths.
“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden said, taking questions from reporters after an event focused on the US economy.
“I am hopeful that the president will be mildly more enlightened before we get to January 20,” he added.
While many of Trump’s allies have failed to acknowledge Biden’s victory, his national security adviser Robert O’Brien said it looked like the Democrat had won.
“If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner – and obviously, things look that way now – we’ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council,” O’Brien said in an interview with the Global Security Forum broadcast on Monday.
O’Brien left open the possibility that Trump could still win a second term, as the president’s lawyers are fighting results in courts, without any success.
GNA