President Donald Trump issued a statement declaring victory in Tuesday's presidential election, adding that he believes that the election is being stolen.
There is no evidence at this time of any widespread election or voting fraud.
When Trump spoke from the White House early Wednesday morning, opponent Joe Biden held a narrow 225-214 Electoral College lead.
"I want to thank the American people for their tremendous support. Millions and millions of people voted for us today. And a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people. And we won't stand for it. We won't stand for it," Trump said.
A number of battleground states remain uncalled, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, North Carolina. With an influx of mail-in voting, states are needing more time than usual to count ballots. Officials in Pennsylvania have said that the vote count there could take days. The winner of Pennsylvania could be what decides the winner of the election.
“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!” Trump tweeted.
Immediately after the message was sent, Twitter flagged the tweet for misinformation.
In response, Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon called Trump's comments "outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect."
"It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens," she wrote.
NEW: Biden Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon says, “The president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect.” pic.twitter.com/dysSKDtk1c
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 4, 2020
Trump's comments contradict statements he made on Tuesday morning on Fox News, when he said he would only declare victory "only if there's victory," adding that he "won't play games."
It is possible Trump ends up winning as he is leading in the key states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. But Biden has done well in mail-in voting, and all three states still have a large number of mail-in votes to process. That is why those states have yet to be given an official projection by media outlets.
Later on Wednesday morning, Trump's path to victory narrowed when Biden took home a win in the battleground state of Arizona. Biden currently has 238 electoral votes, Trump currently has 212.
Despite there not being any obvious reason to do so as of now, Trump vowed to go to the Supreme Court to dispute the election count.
