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BERLIN: The head of an international US election observation mission on Thursday accused Donald Trump of a “flagrant abuse of power” after the president alleged he was being misled and demanded that the vote count stop.
“The most disturbing thing was that with presidential fanfare from the White House, that is, with all the insignia of power, the American commander-in-chief called for the end of the countdown for his supposed victory,” Michael Link told the German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung .
“That was a huge abuse of power,” he said, adding that Trump’s “claims of manipulation are unfounded.”
Link, who works for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), warned that Trump’s repeated false accusations of fraud could have far-reaching consequences.
“The biggest concern is that the United States will not be able to put the genie that Trump has let slip back into the bottle.
“Even if he admits defeat and delivers office correctly, his supporters, prompted by rhetoric, might view violence as a legitimate tool because they no longer feel democratically represented,” Link said.
And that is “a danger that goes far beyond Election Day,” added the OSCE head of mission, which monitors elections in Western nations and the former Soviet Union.
On Wednesday, the mission already issued a statement saying that there was no basis for Trump’s cheating claims, and that Tuesday’s vote was “competitive and well-managed.”
Trump, 74, has unilaterally claimed victory before the countdown in key states on the battlefield is over.
It has also made it clear that it will not accept the reported results, issuing unprecedented complaints, unsupported by any evidence, of fraud.
