US President Donald Trump has said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College declares Joe Biden the winner of the November 3 elections, even as he reiterated unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud. In his Thanksgiving Day remarks, he, however, said it will be a mistake if the Electoral College were to elect Biden.

”It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede,” Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked during a press call at the White House what he will do if the Electoral College elects Biden. ”If they do, they made a mistake,” he said.

Asked if he would leave the White House, he said, ”Certainly, I will, and you know that.” On his plans for his last Thanksgiving in the White House, Trump said, ”You can’t say what’s first or last.” It might be the ”first one of the second term,” he said. Biden won the presidential election over Trump, who is continuing his legal efforts to upend his victory.

Trump has allowed the official start of Biden’s transition to power this week but has not yet conceded defeat. However, election officials in key battleground states have declared Biden the winner, giving him an unofficial 306-232 edge in the Electoral College that determines the outcome of US presidential contests. ”This was a massive fraud,” Trump said of the election.

”We are like a Third World country,” he said, referring to the voting infrastructure. ”No one wants to see the kind of fraud this election has come to represent,” he added.

State officials have said they do not have any evidence of large-scale voter fraud. ”I don’t know what is going to happen. I know one thing, Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes,” Trump said, adding that Biden didn’t beat former president Barack Obama’s vote total with black voters.

Trump’s efforts to challenge the results in key states in courts have so far failed. Biden is set to be approved by the Electoral College when it meets on December 14.

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Earlier in his remarks, Trump talked about increased funding for the military over the past four years and seemed to be in good spirits. When a member of the Coast Guard mentioned his golf game, Trump promised to keep driving the ball ”straight and long”.

”Only form of exercise,” he quipped about his game.

First Published:Nov 27, 2020 9:41 AM IST