US Elections: Republican Allies Turn Against Donald Trump After Fraud Allegations

Several Republican leaders have condemned US President Donald Trump’s claims of “major fraud” in the elections and rebuked his efforts to halt “all vote counts” while declaring himself the winner of the election.

Trump, who spoke to his supporters in the White House late on election night, when millions of votes were not yet counted, said: “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve already won it.”

“This is a fraud against the American public. It is an embarrassment to our country. We were preparing to win this election. Frankly, we won this election. We won this election,” he said.

But several Republican leaders have since publicly rejected the comments.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said “it is not unusual” for people to claim that they have won the election.

“But claiming that you won the election is different than finishing the recount (of votes),” he said.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a senior Trump ally, told ABC News that he disagreed with the president’s comments.

“I speak tonight now not as a former governor, but as a former United States attorney,” Christie said on election night.

“There is simply no basis for making that argument tonight. There simply is not.

“You have to count all these votes that are in the moment. In Pennsylvania, the discussion will not even begin in Pennsylvania until tomorrow, or Thursday or Friday because the Pennsylvania court extended by three days when ballots could be accepted.

“I understand there could be an argument on that, based on Pennsylvania law, but that argument is for later. Tonight, this was not the time to make this argument.”

Christie added: “I don’t agree with what he did tonight.”

“There comes a point where you have to let the process develop itself before judging that it has been flawed.

“I think it is a bad strategic decision, it is a bad political decision and it is not the kind of decision that you would expect someone who occupies the position to make tonight,” Christie said.

His fellow Trump ally, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, told CNN’s election coverage panel he was “very distraught” by what the president had said.

“The idea of ​​using the word ‘fraud’ committed by people who count the votes is wrong,” Santorum said.

“(In Pennsylvania) they are counting absentee and mail ballots right now. And some counties have stopped counting.

Why have they stopped counting? Because it’s 2.48 in the morning!

“That’s why they stopped counting. People get tired, when they are tired they make mistakes, and you stop counting and then go back to it the next morning when people are fresh.”

“They keep counting because they are trying to ‘fix’ anything to create some kind of fraud.”

He said of President Trump’s comments: “I couldn’t disagree more on this case.”

Rob Portman, a Republican senator from Ohio, issued a statement with an indirect rebuke of the president’s rhetoric.

“Under our Constitution, the state legislatures make the rules and the states administer our elections,” Portman said.

“We must respect that process and ensure that all votes cast are counted in accordance with state law. It’s that simple.”

Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, who has become a public critic, said they were “some of the most irresponsible comments a US president has ever made.”

“He has called into question the integrity of the entire electoral process simply for his own personal gain,” he told Sky News.

“That is a misfortune.”

Conservative American political commentator Ben Shapiro also joined, disagreeing with Trump’s decision to declare victory prematurely.

A winner has yet to be declared in the election, but the Trump campaign has begun mounting numerous legal fights to stop the counting of votes in key states on the battlefield and has already pledged to seek a recount in the state of Wisconsin.