Will leave WH if electoral college declares Biden winner: Trump

Washington, November 27

US President Donald Trump said for the first time that he would leave the White House if the electoral college declares Joe Biden winner, but made clear he was not prepared to “concede” the election.

Trump, a Republican, has refused to accept defeat in the November 3 presidential election, and told reporters on Thursday that it would be “hard” to concede to Biden, a Democrat.

“Certainly I will, and you know that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter about leaving the White House if Biden is declared the winner on December 14. “It's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was a massive fraud,” Trump said, once again repeating the unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

The 538-member electoral college is scheduled to meet on December 14 and is expected to formally declare the 78-year-old former vice-president as the 46th US President.

Under the US electoral system, voters do not directly choose the President. Instead, they vote for 538 officials, who are allocated to American states based on their population size.

Biden leads Trump 306 votes to 232 under the electoral college system used to pick US presidents. Biden’s tally is far more than the 270 needed to win the race for the White House, and he also leads the popular vote by more than six million.

In his Thanksgiving Day remarks, Trump, however, said it would be a mistake if the electoral college were to elect Biden. “It's going to be a very hard thing to concede,” Trump told reporters when asked during a press call at the White House what he will do if the electoral college elects Biden.

“If they do, they made a mistake,” he said. — PTI