Trump team falsely claim he was not assisted in transition by Obama

Video resurfaces of Trump thanking the Obamas ‘for their gracious aid throughout this transition’ in his inaugural address

In what appeared to be an attempt to normalise his own refusal to concede the election and begin a transition process, Donald Trump and his allies are now falsely claiming that the 2016 election result was never accepted by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Mr Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as his former director of national intelligence, reiterated over the weekend the claims of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who told reporters last week that Mr Trump was himself not given a fair chance at the start of his administration.  

“It’s worth remembering that this president was never given an orderly transition of power. His presidency was never accepted,” Ms McEnany said on being questioned over the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with Mr Biden’s transition team.  

Almost three weeks on from the election, Mr Trump is still refusing to accept defeat and his campaign continues to pursue legal claims of voter fraud, many of which have already been thrown out in the courts. 

Mr Biden was declared the winner by most news networks on Saturday 7 November, and with states now beginning to formally certify their results he is leading by 306 electoral college votes, the same number Mr Trump secured in 2016 against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

However, unlike Mr Trump, Ms Clinton promptly conceded, saying the Republican would be “our president”.

As for the claims about an orderly transition, the Associated Press reported that Mr Obama’s aides offered support to all incoming Trump staffers, and that he committed to assist the Trump administration in various public statements.

“My number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful,” Mr Obama had said at the time.

Mr Trump even thanked Mr Obama and his wife “for their gracious aid throughout this transition”, calling them “magnificent” in his inaugural address on 20 January 2017.

Health experts and Mr Biden himself have slammed Mr Trump for delaying the transition process, saying it could hinder the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.  

Mr Biden, who started appointing his own Covid-19 taskforce on the Monday after he was declared president-elect, said his team was being blocked from learning about stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE) and plans for distributing vaccines.