Trump alleged he had been deceived and demanded that the vote count be halted. (File)
Berlin:
The head of an international US election observation mission on Thursday accused Donald Trump of “blatant abuse of power” after the president alleged he had been cheated and demanded that the vote count be suspended.
“The most disturbing thing was that with the White House presidential fanfare, that is, with all the badges of power, the US Commander-in-Chief called for the end of the count because of his alleged victory, “Michael Link told the German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung.
“It was a blatant abuse of power,” he said, adding that “Trump’s manipulation allegations are baseless.”
Link, who works for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, warned that Trump’s repeated false allegations of fraud could have far-reaching consequences.
“The main concern is that the United States will not be able to bottle the genius that Trump has let out.
“Even if he admitted defeat and passed office properly, his rhetorically-driven supporters might view violence as a legitimate tool because they no longer feel democratically represented,” Link said.
And it is “a danger that goes well beyond election day,” added the OSCE chief of mission, which monitors elections in Western countries and the former Soviet Union.
On Wednesday, the mission has already issued a statement claiming Trump’s cheating allegations were unfounded and Tuesday’s vote was “competitive and well-run.”
Trump, 74, won unilaterally before the count in the main battlefield states was concluded.
He also made it clear that he would not accept the reported results, issuing unprecedented complaints – unsubstantiated by any evidence – of fraud.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
