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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump appeared on Sunday to publicly acknowledge for the first time that his Democratic rival Joe Biden won the November 3 US presidential election, but reiterated his false claims that the vote was rigged.
“He won because the election was rigged,” Trump tweeted.
Trump had yet to concede the election to Biden, who was called the winner on November 7 after enough state results were obtained for the former Democratic vice president’s victory.
Biden has won 306 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College system that determines the presidential winner, according to Edison Research, far more than the 270 needed.
Instead, Trump has spent his days with few public events and pressed unsubstantiated allegations of fraud on social media.
The US president has also stalled the administration’s normal process of preparing for a new presidential administration, which both Democrats and some Republicans have said has serious implications for national security.
Trump’s campaign team and Republicans have also tried to take their case to court in key states on the battlefield, but have been widely rejected.
Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have moved forward with their transition efforts, including briefings on the COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Susan Heavey; edited by Alexander Smith)
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