Donald Trump leaves after speaking during election night in the East Room of the White House. (Getty/Mandel Ngan)
Mary Trump joined global condemnation of her uncle Donald Trump as he attempted to declare victory in the US presidential election despite the results still being too close to call, in a debased attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process.
Donald Trump made an empty accusation of fraud in the US election, declaring himself the winner despite the clear fact he had not won reelection at the time of speaking.
“This is a fraud on the American public,” he said at the White House, fraudulently.
“This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election.”
Falsely, he added: “Frankly, we did win this election.”
It had been widely predicted that Trump would pull such a stunt after weeks of him attempting to undermine democracy with baseless and debunked claims of postal ballot fraud. Myriad experts have said that postal votes are secure, valid, and were not at any risk of fraud.
As it stands, key swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are too close to call with many postal votes still in play, meaning the winner of the presidential election will likely not be known for days or possibly weeks.
Trump has been desperately trying to block states from counting postal votes, which traditionally skew Democrat, and said he would be “going to the US Supreme Court”.
The current president of the United States said: “We want all voting to stop.”
His statement followed a tweet, labelled false by Twitter, in which he claimed the election was being “stolen” and warned “votes cannot be case after the polls are closed”.
No state allows for votes to be cast after polls are closed, however Trump was trying to insinuate that postal ballots arriving and/or counted after Election Day are not valid. This is not true. Legally, in certain states, ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive within the following days will be counted.
Trump’s false claim was roundly condemned for what it is: a sad, despotic attempt to cling onto power.
His niece, Mary Trump, stated the facts: “Every vote must be counted. Donald is lying.”
Every vote must be counted. Donald is lying.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 4, 2020
Trump just said he doesn’t want “them to find more votes at 4am” wtf… that’s exactly what is supposed to happen. Votes are still being counted. Have a seat sir. Everyone’s vote counts. #ElectionNight
— Trace Lysette (@tracelysette) November 4, 2020
This is what dictators are like as they emerge in full. They don’t come out of nowhere.
— Sindhu Vee (@sindhuvfunny) November 4, 2020
Donald Trump’s premature claims of victory are illegitimate, dangerous, and authoritarian.
Count the votes. Respect the results.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 4, 2020
We must count EVERY VOTE!
— Peppermint (@Peppermint247) November 4, 2020
Moments after Trump spoke, Arizona and its 11 electoral college votes were called for Joe Biden, limiting Trump’s possible path to victory.