Trump accepts poll outcome only to backtrack hour later

Washington, November 15

President Donald Trump backtracked after appearing on Sunday to acknowledge for the first time that Joe Biden won the November 3 election, saying he conceded “nothing” and repeating his “unfounded” claims of widespread voting fraud.

Biden defeated Donald Trump by winning a series of battleground states that the Republican incumbent had won in 2016. The Democratic former Vice President also won the national popular vote by more than 5.5 million votes, or 3.6 percentage points.

Trump made his conflicting statements in a series of Twitter posts. “He won because the Election was Rigged,” Trump wrote on Sunday morning, not referring to Biden by name.

About an hour later, Trump wrote, “He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!”

Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in multiple states, though without success, and legal experts say the litigation stands little chance of altering the poll outcome.

Meanwhile, thousands of Trump supporters protested in Washington. The march was largely peaceful, but scuffles broke out between Trump supporters and counter-protesters later. — Reuters

Democrats’ tally reaches 306

Biden has won 306 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College system that determines the presidential winner, according to Edison Research, far more than the 270 needed to secure a majority. Trump earned the same number of electoral votes in 2016.

Biden yet to dial modi

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi is in line for a telephonic conversation after South Block became one of the first countries apart from its allies to congratulate both Biden and Kamala Harris. Leaders of Japan, Australia and South Korea have received phone calls from Biden about five-six days after their congratulatory messages, the MEA here said a Modi-Biden phone conversation would take place in due course at a mutually convenient time. TNS