Trump campaign vows to keep fighting: ‘This election is not over’

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Donald Trump repeated his unfounded claims of election fraud on Friday, as it seemed increasingly likely the president will refuse to accept the results of the election and concede defeat.

With Joe Biden leading the vote in Georgia and Pennsylvania – two states Trump must win to have any chance of retaining the presidency – Trump’s campaign insisted in a statement that talk of a Biden victory was a “false projection” and hinted at further legal challenges.

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Trump’s refusal to acknowledge a probable Biden victory seems likely to set the scene for an ugly legal battle waged across several states.

Given Trump is yet to provide any evidence of widespread voter fraud, it seems like this will be a futile battle, but the campaign insisted it will be waged in any case.

“This election is not over,” the Trump campaign general counsel, Matt Morgan, said.

“The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final.”

Morgan said the campaign was confident it would find “improperly harvested” ballots in Georgia, and claimed there had been “many irregularities in Pennsylvania”. In Nevada, according to Morgan, individuals had cast mail-in ballots incorrectly.

The Trump campaign has not provided any evidence for these claims. Biden’s most significant lead on Friday morning was in Pennsylvania, where thousands of votes were yet to be counted.

The majority of those votes were from counties that lean heavily towards Democrats. The process is taking longer than usual due to more votes having been cast by mail.

While some Republicans have edged away from what appears to be Trump’s presidential death throes, several GOP politicians who might fancy themselves as contenders for the presidency in 2024 sprang to Trump’s defense on Thursday, after the president’s sons goaded the party on Twitter.

Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and Lindsey Graham, once seen as a moderate Republican senator but who swore himself to Trump long ago, all raged against the tide of Biden votes, echoing the president’s baseless claims of fraud.

The three only intervened, however, after a shaming from Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr.

“The total lack of action from virtually all of the ‘2024 GOP hopefuls’ is pretty amazing. They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead,” Donald Trump Jr tweeted.