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Donald Trump (archive image): "What a disaster this election was"
Photo: Patrick Semansky / dpa
His own Justice Minister has just clearly contradicted him.
But the incumbent US President Donald Trump is sticking to his unproven election fraud allegations.
He has published a 46-minute video from the White House in which he deals with a whole series of allegations against his political opponent.
In the address published on Wednesday evening (local time), he made it clear that he does not want to accept his defeat against the Democrat Joe Biden - and that he continues to see himself as the winner of the election.
"The Democrats rigged this election from the start," Trump said.
US Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that there was no evidence of fraud to the extent that would change the outcome of the election.
The "New York Times" reported, citing a White House employee, that the video was recorded last week.
Why it was published on Wednesday of all times was initially unclear.
Trump opened his address with these words: "This is perhaps the most important speech I have ever given." However, his unproven accusations were already known.
He accused the Democrats, for example, of having laid the foundation for "systematic and widespread" electoral fraud by expanding postal voting.
Trump had already raised the mood against the postal vote during the election campaign, which many Democratic voters in particular used because of the corona pandemic.
Voting by post is an established form of voting in the United States.
No evidence - appeals to the courts for it
Trump himself has not presented any evidence of large-scale electoral fraud.
The responsible US authorities had described the election on November 3rd as the safest in US history.
Trump announced on Wednesday evening that he would continue to take legal action against the election result.
"What a disaster this election was," he said.
“A total disaster.
But we'll point it out.
And hopefully the courts will see, especially the United States Supreme Court. "
The judges must do the right thing, he said.
"Because our country can't live with an election like that." Trump said he would have no problem losing an election.
But it has to be done fairly.
In the particularly competitive states - the so-called swing states - millions of illegal votes had been cast, Trump claimed.
"And if that's the case, the results of the individual swing states must be overturned, and immediately." He had won these states "very easily".
In fact, according to the certified results of six important swing states, each of them won Biden.
Speculation about a renewed candidacy in 2024
There is no evidence - or even any indications - for Trump's claim that millions of illegal votes were counted.
Neither lawsuits from Trump's attorneys nor recounts have so far led to a change in an election result in even a single state.
Trump has now again criticized the fact that he lost his lead with continuous vote counting in some states on election night from November 3rd to 4th.
Not only critics of the president argue that majority ratios can change in the course of vote counts in a democracy.
As usual in the USA, Biden had been proclaimed the winner of the election by important media.
Trump appeared to have indicated in front of Republican Party members at a Christmas party in the White House on Tuesday that he would run for the presidency again in the next election in four years.
The news portal »Politico« reported on it, and other US media followed suit.
So far, Trump has not wanted to comment publicly on speculations about a possible candidacy in 2024.
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jok / dpa