Donald Trump backtracks on acknowledging Joe Biden won US presidential election, concedes 'nothing'

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump backtracked after appearing on Sunday to acknowledge for the first time that Joe Biden won the November 3 election, saying he conceded "nothing" and repeating his unfounded claims of widespread voting fraud.

Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by winning a series of battleground states that the Republican incumbent had won in 2016. The Democratic former vice president also won the national popular vote by more than 5.5 million votes or 3.6 percentage points.

Trump made his conflicting statements in a series of Twitter posts.

"He won because the Election was Rigged," Trump wrote on Sunday morning, not referring to Biden by name. "NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn`t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!"

He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more! https://t.co/Exb3C1mAPg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020

About an hour later, Trump wrote, "He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!"

He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020

Speaking on the NBC program "Meet the Press," Biden`s pick for White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, said, "Donald Trump`s Twitter feed doesn`t make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that."

Trump`s campaign has filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in multiple states, though without success, and legal experts say the litigation stands little chance of altering the outcome of the election.

Election officials of both parties have said there is no evidence of major irregularities. Democrats and other critics have accused Trump of trying to delegitimize Biden`s victory and undermine public confidence in the American electoral process. Before the election, Trump had refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump`s refusal to concede did not change the fact that Biden was the president-elect, but it has stalled the government`s normal process of preparing for a new presidential administration.

The Trump administration`s decision not to recognize Biden as the winner has prevented Biden and his team from gaining access to government office space and to funding normally afforded to an incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition.

The federal agency in charge of providing those resources, the General Services Administration, has yet to recognize Biden`s victory.