“If you look at the legal votes, I win very easily,” Trump told reporters from the White House briefing room.
“They’re trying very obviously to commit fraud,” he said, speaking particularly harshly about Philadelphia and Detroit.
Votes from the county that includes Philadelphia have helped the Democratic nominee Joe Biden close Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania. The Associated Press has called Michigan, and its 16 electoral votes, for Biden.
The president left after speaking for several minutes and did not take reporters’ questions.
In his remarks, Trump railed against the process of mail-in voting, which saw a significant uptick this election cycle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He baselessly claimed that the process of counting mailed-in ballots had been tainted and complained that many of the absentee votes had been cast for Biden.
“I’ve said very strongly that mail-in ballots are going to end up being a disaster,” he said. “It’s getting worse and worse every day.”
Trump complained repeatedly that Republican observers had not gained sufficient access to vote-counting locations, which the campaign has filed lawsuits over in Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
However, the suits in Michigan and Nevada were quickly dismissed by state courts. Action in Pennsylvania is pending, although a state court reaffirmed Wednesday that Trump observers have a right to be within 6 feet of the ballot-counting operation.
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