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- BBC presenter Ros Atkins explained the confusion in the UK over President Donald Trump and top Republicans’ reaction to the projected election results and unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud.
- “By any measure, this is extraordinary,” Atkins said in a video clip shared on Twitter. “The defeated candidates in US presidential elections almost always concede immediately once the winner is projected.”
- Atkins also questioned Republican leaders’ accusations of voter fraud, asking, “for how long must Americans and Joe Biden wait for any evidence to be offered? It’s been a week and still nothing.”
- Since President-elect Joe Biden was projected the winner of the election, Trump has refused to concede and made several false or unsubstantiated claims about mass voter fraud.
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BBC presenter Ros Atkins explained the confusion in the UK over Trump and top Republican’s reaction to the projected election results.
“Four days since his defeat was projected, President Trump’s refusing to concede, is claiming to have won without providing evidence to show that, and he’s refusing to help the transition to Joe Biden,” Atkins said in a video shared on Twitter. “And many Republicans support him.”
—Ros Atkins (@BBCRosAtkins) November 11, 2020
Since President-elect Joe Biden was projected the winner of the election, President Trump has refused to concede, all the while making several false or unsubstantiated claims about mass voter fraud and attempts to “steal” the election.
Atkins explained how the administration is not working with Biden’s transition team, such as not providing transition funds or access to classified information, as is customary once the winner has been projected.
He also showed a clip of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying, “I think we ought to quit all the hand wringing, not act like this is extraordinary.”
“Except by any measure, this is extraordinary,” Atkins said. “The defeated candidates in US presidential elections almost always concede immediately once the winner is projected. And if a new president is taking over the outgoing administration cooperates. Donald Trump knows this because back in 2016, Barack Obama met him to discuss their handover, and that happened weeks before all the votes were certified.”
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He also went on to discuss how various Republican leaders have responded to the election, saying many have supported or enabled Trump’s claims of fraud without proof.
“For how long must Americans and Joe Biden wait for any evidence to be offered?” he said. “It’s been a week and still nothing.”
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, once seen as an ally of Trump, congratulated Biden for winning and has since referred to Trump as the “previous president,” telling members of parliament he had an “extremely exciting” phone call with Biden.
On November 5, before the winner was projected, Atkins also reported on the president’s and his allies’ unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in another widely-shared BBC clip, saying, “This is not American democracy as people normally see it.”
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