Donald Trump calls conspiracy with attacks on ballot counting

The president reiterated several false claims about mail-in ballots

A car driver holds a sign at Black Lives Matter plaza near the White House after Election Day in Washington, DC. Reuters

An Oregon State Trooper hits a protester with his baton while dispersing a crowd of black bloc protesters in Portland. AFP

Soldiers with the National Guard help local police disperse antifascist protesters following the US presidential elections in Portland, Oregon. EPA

Minneapolis State Patrol arrest journalists and people protesting against racism and issues with the presidential election after they blocked interstate 94 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

Demonstrators march on to highway I-94 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

Police officers line up alongside interstate 94 blocked by protestors marching against racism and issues with the presidential election in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

Minneapolis State Patrol arrest journalists and people protesting against racism and issues with the presidential election after they blocked interstate 94 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

A woman pulls a child away from a protest crowd as it passes a downtown restaurant in Portland, Oregon. AFP

Black bloc protesters pull a barrier into the street while running from police in Portland, Oregon. AFP

Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria, left, is interrupted by a disgruntled member of the public during a press conference outside Clark County Election Department, in North Las Vegas. AFP

People hold a "Remove Trump Pence Now" sign during a protest against racism and issues with the presidential election after in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

A speaker leads a crowd in chants in Portland, Oregon. AFP

Pedestrians walk past a digital screen displaying a news report on the U.S. presidential election in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Bloomberg

A man watches the U.S. Election live broadcasting at a bar on November 05, 2020 in Shanghai, China. Getty Images

South Korean supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump hold flags near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. AP Photo

Vietnamese souvenir seller Truong Thanh Duc, supporter of US President Donald Trump, shows images of the president at his shop in Hanoi, Vietnam. Reuters

Medical workers look at a computer screen displaying the partial results of the US elections, at the intensive care unit for patients infected by Covid-19 of the university-affiliated hospital Cavale Blanche in Brest, western France. AFP

A currency dealer monitors exchange rates as a screen shows results of the US presidential elections in a trading room at KEB Hana Bank in Seoul. AFP

A cyclist wears a banner at Black Lives Matter plaza near the White House after Election Day in Washington, U.S., November 5, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

A downbeat President Donald Trump warned of a wave of litigation as he tore into the “corrupt” US election system just a few hours after former Vice President Joe Biden said he had no doubt that he would win.

In a 20-minute speech from the White House, Mr Trump doubled down on his false claims that mail-in ballots are fraudulent, protesting the ongoing ballot counts in the remaining swing states that will decide the US election. He then exited the room without taking any questions from reporters.

“If you count the legal votes, we easily win,” said Mr Trump. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late, we’ll look into them very strongly.”

The Trump campaign and his Republican allies have filed various cases in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan.

“Lots of litigation, even beyond our litigation, there’s tremendous amount of litigation,” said Mr Trump.

A judge in Chatham County, Georgia denied the Trump campaign’s bid to disqualify 50 ballots because the Republican poll watcher making the claim did not offer any evidence that they arrived after the deadline on election day.

And a judge in Michigan denied the campaign’s request to halt vote counting as most of the ballots have already been tabulated and Mr Biden has already secured a victory in the state.

The president went on to lambast mail-in voting, claiming that “it’s really destroyed our system” and that “it’s a corrupt system.”

A record number of voters sent in ballots by mail this year as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the United States.

Most Democratic voters have opted to vote by mail due to the pandemic, whereas most of Mr Trump’s supporters voted in person after the president railed against mail-in voting for weeks.

Shortly after Mr Trump’s address, Mr Biden tweeted that “No one is going to take our democracy away from us.”

“America has come too far, fought too many battles and endured too much to let that happen.”

Mr Biden gave his own address earlier in the day, stating that “We have no doubt that when the count is finished, we will be declared the winners.”

The dueling speeches came as the vote count entered a third day on Thursday due to the high-volume of mail-in ballots. The Associated Press and major media outlets have called the races in most states, except for Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada. Only the Associated Press and Fox News have called the race in Arizona for Mr Biden, who is closer to securing enough votes to win the electoral college and presidency.