After The Associated Press and other major news networks projected that Joe Biden is the winner of the presidential election, President Donald Trump issued a statement rejecting Biden’s victory and vowing to legally challenge the results.
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over,” the president said in a statement.
Trump went on to say that Biden has not yet been certified the winner in any state. Counties are required to certify presidential election results by Nov. 13, and states must certify results by Dec. 8.
The AP, recognized as the gold standard for accurately calling elections, has called every presidential race since 1848.
The AP explained that it decided to call the race for Biden after his lead in Pennsylvania surpassed the margin that would legally prompt a mandatory recount.
In losing the election, Trump became the first president since George H.W. Bush to lose re-election in 28 years, and the third president in history to lose the popular vote twice, the others being the eighth president, John Quincy Adams, and the 19th, Rutherford B. Hayes.
In the statement, Trump continued to claim representatives were not able to observe vote counting in Pennsylvania.
Lawsuits filed by his campaign have already been dismissed in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia, but in the statement Trump said he would continue to legally challenge the election results.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election,” he said.
Trump also repeated the unfounded claim that widespread fraud had interfered with the election. “I won this election by a lot,” he tweeted Saturday.
Earlier Saturday, Trump’s aides held a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, where Rudy Giuliani told reporters the president would not concede.
“Obviously he’s not going to concede when at least 600,000 ballots are in question,” Giuliani said.
Trump was not present at the time, and was instead golfing in Virginia.
Demonstrators gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the White House after Biden was named the winner of the election.
“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not,” the president-elect said in a tweet.
Biden broke the popular vote record, previously held by former President Barack Obama, becoming garnering the most votes of any presidential candidate in history.
