A number of Republican politicians took to Twitter to slam Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud on Thursday November 5, following a press conference in which the president broke his 36-hour silence to double down on accusations of a conspiracy against him.
In the 17-minute conference, available on YouTube , Trump alleged that he was the victim of a “big media, big money, and big tech” conspiracy, and claimed these three forces worked together to commit “historic election interference.” He continued to complain about supposed “suppression” polls and mail-in ballots. However, he did not offer any proof to support his explosive allegations, and he did not take any questions from the media present.
Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan hit out against Trump’s comments on Twitter.
“There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process,” he wrote. “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.”
He followed his statement up with another tweet in which he urged Americans to “keep faith in the voters and our democracy” as the world watches on.
“Let the process work, just like it has every four years for over 200 years,” he wrote.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger also slammed the president’s actions on Twitter.
“We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation… This is getting insane.”
William Cogswell — a Republican politician who just won a South Carolina House seat — wrote on Twitter that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” by the president’s behavior, while former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake also hit out at Trump on the social networking platform.
No Republican should be okay with the President’s statements just now. Unacceptable. Period.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) November 6, 2020
The press conference came as media outlets increasingly projected victory for Democratic nominee Joe Biden in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin. Despite this, Trump falsely stated that he had “won the state” of Michigan, and “did likewise in Wisconsin.”
“We were winning a lot and then our numbers started getting whittled away in secret,” he alleged.
As The Inquisitr reported, several U.S. news channels pulled the plug on their coverage as Trump made numerous baseless claims. Networks including CNN, MSNBC, NBC and ABC interrupted the address, and MSNBC host Brian Williams subsequently questioned the “reality” of the White House speech and underlined the danger the president posed by continuing to spread misleading claims.
According to election forecasting from Associated Press , Biden needs just six more electoral college votes in order to hit the 270 figure required to be declared president. Trump, meanwhile, would need 56 additional votes to remain in the White House.