sb.scorecardresearch

Published 14:22 IST, November 8th 2020

Bad things happened: Trump reacts as Biden claims victory; says he got 71 MN legal votes

Airing a fresh barrage of baseless attacks, Donald Trump said that he had won the US Presedential election and cited a falsely-inflated number of votes

Reported by: Prachi Mankani
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
Trump
null | Image: self

Airing a fresh barrage of baseless attacks, Donald Trump said that he had won the US Presidential election and cited a falsely-inflated number of votes. He further suggested that he was a victim of foul play. Biden has become the President-elect of the United States after victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania which took him past the electoral college threshold of 270 votes.

Taking to Twitter, Trump launched a series of attacks and questioned the integrity of the vote. His all-caps tweet alleged that “bad things” had occurred, even though he has not given any evidence of electoral fraud. Meanwhile, the observers were not allowed into the counting rooms in a number of states, the president added. " He further claimed that he got 71,000,000 'legal votes.'

READ: Bill Clinton takes veiled jibe at Donald Trump; congratulates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Trump has ranted and railed against mail-in ballots for months now, with some citing that this may have contributed to not enough of his supporters voting. The counting of mail-in ballots has on the whole benefited Biden, with the former Vice President coming from behind in multiple states, including his home state Pennsylvania. During this process, Trump and his campaign have claimed continuously that he actually won the election and that the mail-in ballots have defrauded the people of the US.

READ: 'Looking forward to working together': Justin Trudeau congratulates Biden on US poll win

Biden and Harris emerge victorious 

With record mail-in ballots being polled amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the results were inconclusive on November 3, as millions of ballots remained to be counted. Biden broke Barack Obama's record of 2008 elections getting over 70 million votes, as the polls saw the highest voter turnout since 1908. As he inched closer to victory, he maintained 'Every vote must be counted'.

After the winner was announced with Pennsylvania being the deciding state, President-elect Joe Biden assured the citizens that he will be a 'President for all Americans', while adding that work going forward 'will be hard' referring to his promise to tackle Coronavirus from Day one. Taking to Twitter he said that he will keep the faith that has been placed in him. Harris made history by becoming the first woman, the first Black woman, and the first woman of South-Asian origin to become the vice president of the US. 

READ: US elections LIVE: Joe Biden elected President, Trump promises unspecified legal action

READ: Conceding? Trump's first response after Joe Biden is declared 2020 US Election winner out

Updated 14:22 IST, November 8th 2020