Trump tweets he won the election 'BY A LOT' as he heads to golf
President, rebuked five times by twitter in a few hours, could learn his fate if race is called as he is on the links as vote-counting neared crucial point in Pennsylvania
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Donald Trump emerged from the White House for his first post-election trip off campus since Election Day dressed for a round of golf after tweeting more unsupported accusations of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania as former Vice President Joe Biden closed in on ousting him.
The president was wearing golf spikes, a windbreaker jacket, slacks and a white “Make America Great Again” cap as he boarded an armored US Secret Service SUV outside the White House residence around 10am eastern time. He has not left the executive mansion since a Tuesday trip to his campaign headquarters in nearby Arlington, Virginia, and has not been in public since a Thursday evening press conference in the White House briefing room.
“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” the president tweeted from his motorcade, drawing this disclaimer to be added to the post by Twitter: “Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted.”
With Pennsylvania and Nevada, still uncalled by the Associated Press, expected to upload thousands of counted votes around noon eastern time, Mr Trump could be informed of his political fate on the golf course in Sterling, Virginia. His lawyers are expected to speak to reporters around 11:30am eastern at a landscaping company, according to presidential tweets, in Philadelphia.
Before he headed for the links, Trump, drawing four red flags from Twitter, made a series of allegations of massive voter fraud in Pennsylvania as former Vice President Joe Biden continued to pull ahead in voting-counting in a state that would hand him the presidency.
The incumbent president, holed up in the White House and not seen nor heard from in person since Thursday evening, and his team have made a series of contentions that nefarious activities are to blame for Mr Biden’s leads in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia. They have yet to, however, produce any significant evidence, only promising to do so soon.
Mr Trump was back at it on Saturday morning as officials in key Pennsylvania and Nevada counties prepared to release more vote tallies. Mr Biden, as of 10am eastern time, was ahead by 28,877 votes in Pennsylvania. The Associated Press says it is assessing incoming data and its own modeling in pursuit of a mathematical lock that Mr Trump has no chance of getting more votes in the Keystone State.
Perhaps knowing his political fate comes down to an expected 11:30am upload of new results from the state, the president zeroed in on what happened there on Election Night. He was up big until overnight releases of counted votes put the former VP ahead. But the president’s claims drew disclaimers by Twitter that each post contained misleading information.
“Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process,” the social media firm wrote in a message slapped on each of the presidential messages.
For live election results, click here.
“Tens of thousands of votes were illegally received after 8 P.M. on Tuesday, Election Day, totally and easily changing the results in Pennsylvania and certain other razor thin states. As a separate matter, hundreds of thousands of Votes were illegally not allowed to be OBSERVED…” he wrote.
The president also claimed that the alleged keeping his team’s vote-counting monitors out of facilities where ballots were being process “would ALSO change the Election result in numerous States, including Pennsylvania, which everyone thought was easily won on Election Night, only to see a massive lead disappear, without anyone being allowed to OBSERVE, for long intervals of time, what the happened…”
“...Bad things took place during those hours where LEGAL TRANSPARENCY was viciously & crudely not allowed. Tractors blocked doors & windows were covered with thick cardboard so that observers could not see into the count rooms. BAD THINGS HAPPENED INSIDE. BIG CHANGES TOOK PLACE!”
Mr Trump and his team continue making bold accusations of misdeeds without releasing any evidence, leading Mr Biden to express confidence of a victory being imminent in a late-Friday night speech in Wilmington, Delaware.
"The numbers tell us a clear and convincing story,” Mr Biden said in a seven-minute speech. “We are going to win this race.”
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