Guardian: Europe-NATO reels under Trump’s fraudulent victory claim
'Authoritarian': Trump condemned for falsely claiming election victory
Vote count is still under way and results so far show Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the lead
Donald Trump has confirmed the worst fears of his opponents by making a false declaration of victory in the US presidential election and threatening to plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Results so far show his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, with an edge in the race to 270 electoral college votes after flipping the state of Arizona, but it could be days before the outcome is known.
“The president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect,” said the Biden campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, in a statement.
That Trump had been widely predicted to make a baseless assertion of triumph and resort to the courts to stop votes being counted did not make his 2.21am speech at the White House any less shocking. Some likened the move, unprecedented in American history, to a presidential coup.
“Once again, the president is lying to the American people and acting like a would-be despot,” tweeted Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee. “We will count every vote. And ignore the noise.”
Trump spoke in the East Room with numerous US flags behind him and flanked by two TV screens, which had been showing Fox News. Around 150 guests were standing with few face masks and little physical distancing. Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and other family members sat in the front row.
“Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won’t stand for it,” Trump said to whoops and cheers. “We will not stand for it.”
There is no evidence for Trump’s allegation of disenfranchisement.
The president listed some correct state victories, some false claims of state victories, and dived deep into unfounded conspiracy theories.
European leaders react with caution as Trump falsely claims victory
President’s remarks met with calls for patience until votes counted amid fears of turmoil
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Trump throws baseless doubt on vote and falsely claims victory – video
European politicians have cautioned patience after Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in the US election in the early hours of Wednesday morning, warning that a drawn-out court battle over the outcome would have disastrous consequences for democracy’s global reputation.
Most government leaders remained silent, waiting for events to unfold, though the Spanish foreign minister, Aráncha González Laya, urged American leaders to wait until all the votes had been counted.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the German defence minister, said: “This is a very explosive situation. This is a situation that can lead to a constitutional crisis in the US, as experts are rightly saying. And it is something that must cause us great concern.”
The EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said: “The American people have spoken. While we wait for the election result, the EU remains ready to continue building a strong transatlantic partnership, based on our shared values and history.”
In Germany, the failure of Joe Biden, a committed pro-European and multilateralist, to secure a resounding win was causing deep dismay.
Politicians predicted chaos and warned the outcome had revealed the vote for Trump in 2016 was not an accident. Even if Biden is eventually declared winner, it was suggested he would be a weakened president, unable to command a Senate majority and therefore vulnerable to being overwhelmed by intense domestic pressures.
The Bundestag foreign affairs committee chairman, Norbert Röttgen, admitted the results so far had caught Germany off guard. “We are not prepared for it,” he said.
Peter Altmaier, a close political ally of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said: “I’m afraid that if it is a close result there will be a very, very long discussion. Regardless of who wins, it is bad that the US election campaign was mainly conducted on domestic issues.”
The German Green leader, Robert Habeck, said: “If Trump wins, the global order will change fundamentally. Europe must unite, otherwise it will no longer play a role internationally.” read more…
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