President Donald Trump gave defiant Thanksgiving remarks at the White House Thursday, insisting falsely that he beat Joe Biden and wavering on whether he would ever concede or attend Biden’s inauguration.
It was the first time Trump responded to questions from reporters since the election.
He said if the electoral college confirms Biden’s victory, “they’ve made a mistake,” but that he would give up power and leave the White House.
“Certainly I will, and you know that,” Trump said in remarks after speaking via videoconference to U.S. troops to mark the Thanksgiving holiday.
Trump twice declined to say he would formally concede though, adding that would be a very hard thing to do. He also continued to complain about what he called a fraud in the tabulation of votes from the Nov. 3 election.
There is no evidence of a widespread fraud, and numerous states have certified the results.
The Electoral College electors in each state are to vote Dec. 14. Certificates recording the electoral vote results in each state must be received by the president of the Senate no later than Dec. 23.
