Watch CBS News

President Trump Falsely Claims Democrats Are Trying To 'Steal The Election'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two days after Election Day, Americans are still waiting to learn who will become the next president of the United States.

Democrat Joe Biden is closing in on the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House, while President Donald Trump says the election is being "stolen."

Thursday evening, President Trump said he may take his grievances to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his first public appearance since Election Night, the president delivered an extraordinary 15-minute list of smears, falsehoods and conspiracy theories. With election results closing in on him, he has deployed an army of lawyers to states where he's losing. He claimed Thursday he's being illegally cheated out of the election.

"If you count the legal votes, I easily win. 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're looking at them very strongly, but a lot of votes came in late," Trump said.

The president falsely claimed he "won" Wisconsin, Michigan and other states, but is harmed by illegal votes cast after Election Day. Without evidence, he accused election officials in Democratic cities of corruption, and he questioned why mail-in ballots favor Democrats -- after spending months telling Republicans not to vote by mail.

"It's really destroyed our system, it's a corrupt system, and it makes people corrupt even if they aren't by nature," Trump said. "But they become corrupt, it's too easy. They want to find out how many votes they need and then they seem to be able to find them. They wait and wait and then they find them."

Former Vice President Biden, who is leading in the vote count, is urging patience.

"In America, the vote is sacred. It's how people of this nation express their will. And it is the will of the voters," Biden said. "No one, not anyone else, chooses the president of the United States of America. So, each ballot must be counted."

What President Trump is saying is not true. There is no public evidence in any state of election fraud or illegal voting.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.