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– The way I see it, we have already won this election, said President Donald Trump from the White House rostrum, while the vote count continues in full swing.
Among other things, the president claims that he has won the important swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan, even though there are still many votes to be counted there.
– shocking
Hilmar Mjelde, an expert on American politics and researcher at the Norce Research Center, tells Dagbladet that he didn’t believe his own ears.
– I didn’t think I’d hear this from an American president. Trump speaks like an autocrat. Declare victory before the votes are counted. American democracy is under threat, says Mjelde just after Trump took the podium on Wednesday morning Norwegian time.
He thinks the speech is “shocking and completely extraordinary.”
Because what turned out to be an American election thriller is far from decided.
– Like watching a horror movie.
SV leader Audun Lysbakken is also shocked by Trump’s speech on Wednesday morning.
– Seeing that speech was like watching a horror movie. This is the worst that could happen. Now you get to a situation where you claim that you have won and, in practice, you are trying to take the right to vote from hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans whose votes have not yet been counted, he says. Lysbakken to Dagbladet.
– This is something authoritarian leaders do. Undemocratic bullies do that. What we have just seen is a moment that shows that the United States is a democracy that is in deep, deep crisis.
Trump is shocking again
In the speech, Trump also claimed that a group of people have tried to deprive millions of Trump supporters of the right to vote and get into what he believes to be a widespread trap.
– We will not accept it, said the president, and continued:
– This is cheating. This is a humiliation for the United States. We were ready to win this election. Honestly, we won this election.
Reactions to Trump’s “victory speech” and allegations of fraud were not long in coming from the top of his own party, the BBC writes.
Chris Christie, a former New Jersey governor and Trump adviser, reached out to ABC News Wednesday morning.
– It’s a bad strategic choice. A bad political decision, Chistie said.
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum also responds, telling CNN that he is “very concerned.”
– To use the word cheat … I think it’s wrong.
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Waiting
Associate Professor Hilde Restad at Bjørknes Høyskole says Trump’s move was announced.
– Trump has announced that he would do this. Therefore, those who do not want the United States to turn in an authoritarian direction should be prepared for this moment, says Restad.
When Vice President Mike Pence took the podium shortly after his boss, he also used words that testified to victory.
