WASHINGTON/WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters)
Donald Trump hinted he may be ready to move on to planning another run for the U.S. presidency in 2024 as President-elect Joe Biden prepared on Wednesday to confront the raging pandemic that will likely be his first major challenge in office.
Biden, who has promised to act quickly to provide more resources to fight the health crisis after he is inaugurated on January 20, was scheduled to talk with workers and business owners about how the coronavirus has affected them.
Trump has refused to concede, however, and his lawyers continue to file legal challenges to the outcome of the November 3 election, alleging electoral fraud without providing evidence. State and federal election officials have repeatedly said there is no such evidence.
“We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”
United States President Donald Trump
At a White House holiday reception on Tuesday night, Trump appeared to acknowledge that those efforts could fail, and in that case he would run again.
“We are trying to do another four years,” he told the assembled group, according to a Republican source who was at the event. “Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”
On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr, who has long been seen as a Trump ally, said the Justice Department has also found no evidence of widespread fraud.
Trump’s claims have gained traction among his followers, however, helping to raise as much as $170 million for an ‘Election Defense Fund’ that can be used for a wide variety of future political activities, including another run for the presidency, according to news media reports.
On Wednesday, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Biden was headed for victory after the state’s second recount, and sharply criticised Trump for fomenting false claims.
“Even after this office request that President Trump try and quell the violent rhetoric being born out of his continuing claims of winning the states where he obviously lost, he tweeted out ‘expose the massive voter fraud in Georgia’,” he said.
“This is exactly the kind of language that is at the base of a growing threat environment for election workers who are simply doing their jobs.”
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