President Trump said Thursday night that the media, big tech and pollsters waged “election interference” against him in the election and proclaimed, “If you count the legal votes, I easily win.”
Speaking at the White House for the first time since Election Night, Mr. Trump expressed concern that his vote totals in key undecided Democratic-controlled states are being “whittled away in secret.”
“They want to find out how many votes they need, and then they seem to find them,” the president said.
Mr. Trump said he is close to winning, “despite historic election interference by big media, big money and big tech.”
“The pollsters got it knowingly wrong. It was done for suppression reasons,” he said.
He predicted he will carry Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and other key contested states.
The president said he’s being cheated in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, citing Philadelphia and Detroit as “two of the most corrupt places anywhere.” He said the cities “cannot be responsible for engineering the outcome of a presidential race.”
“They’re trying to rig an election,” Mr. Trump said. “We can’t allow anybody to silence our voters and manufacture results. We want an honest election and an honest count.”
He cited in particular Philadelphia officials preventing his campaign representative from observing ballot-counting in the city despite a court ruling allowing them in earlier Thursday. A lawyer for the city said elections officials were “reviewing” the decision.
“They’re trying obviously to commit fraud,” Mr. Trump said.
“We think we’re going to win the election. There’s going to be a lot of litigation. We can’t have an election stolen like this.”
The president said he’s being cheated in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, citing Philadelphia and Detroit as “two of the most corrupt places anywhere.” He said the cities “cannot be responsible for engineering the outcome of a presidential race.”
“They’re trying to rig an election,” Mr. Trump said. “We can’t allow anybody to silence our voters and manufacture results. We want an honest election and an honest count.”
He cited in particular Philadelphia officials preventing his campaign representative from observing ballot-counting in the city despite a court ruling allowing them in earlier Thursday. A lawyer for the city said elections officials were “reviewing” the decision.
“They’re trying obviously to commit fraud,” Mr. Trump said.
“We think we’re going to win the election. There’s going to be a lot of litigation. We can’t have an election stolen like this.”
The president predicted a drawn-out legal battle with Democrat Joseph R. Biden over the results in many states.
“I’ve claimed certain states, and he’s claiming states. We can both claim the states, but ultimately I have a feeling that judges are going to have to rule,” Mr. Trump said.
Vice President Mike Pence was conspicuously absent from the briefing room but offered support online.
“I Stand With President @realDonaldTrump. We must count every LEGAL vote,” he tweeted after Mr. Trump’s remarks.Mr. Trump said mail-in voting “has destroyed our system, it’s really a corrupt system. It makes people corrupt even if they aren’t by nature. They want to be able to find out how many votes they need, and then they seem to find them.”
He cited numerous states where his leads have been dwindling as mail-in ballots are counted after Election Day. Several states, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina, were granted extensions to count ballots after Election Day due to the large expected volume of voters who wanted to avoid voting in person due to coronavirus concerns.
“It’s amazing how those mail-in ballots are so one-sided,” the president said. “We were up by nearly 700,000 votes in Pennsylvania. I won Pennsylvania by a lot. And that gets whittled down to, I think they said 90,000 votes. Likewise in Georgia, I won by a lot. And now it’s getting to a point … to perhaps being even down by a little bit.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, rebuked the president.
“There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process,” he tweeted. “America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our Democracy.”
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican, said of the president, “With his remarks from the White House tonight, the president disrespected every single American who figured out a way to safely vote amid a pandemic that has taken 235,000 lives. Not to mention those who are dutifully counting that vote. Absolutely shameful. Yet so predictable.”
Rep. Will Hurd, Texas Republican, commented, “A sitting president undermining our political process & questioning the legality of the voices of countless Americans without evidence is not only dangerous & wrong, it undermines the very foundation this nation was built upon. Every American should have his or her vote counted.”
Former Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania Republican, tweeted, “President’s Trump’s White House statement tonight about voter fraud in PA was simply reprehensible. Truth is he suppressed his own vote by discouraging mail in voting. Self inflicted damage and political malpractice.”
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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