Without evidence, Trump again accuses Democrats of 'stealing' election

US President Donald Trump again claimed without evidence Thursday that Democrats were trying to "steal" the US election with illegal votes, saying he would "easily win" the race against Joe Biden without the alleged interference.

The Republican leader questioned the credibility of the US election in a speech at the White House, complaining that polling had overstated Biden’s lead in many battleground states and the ongoing count of mail-in votes was eroding his lead in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us,” Trump said Thursday.

Polling showed leads for Biden in states such as Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio had created “the illusion of momentum" for Biden and "diminished the Republican Party’s ability to raise funds,” said Trump.

There is no evidence of widespread illegal voting in the election.

Trump said his team had launched a "tremendous amount of litigation" to counter what he called the "corruption" of Democrats, even as several officials in battleground states where the vote remains undecided have defended the integrity of the vote.

Earlier, Biden asked the country to be patient while states finish counting votes. “Democracy’s sometimes messy,” he said in Wilmington, Delaware. “It sometimes requires a little patience as well. But that patience has been rewarded,” he said.

Biden reiterated that he’s confident he’ll win the presidency.

The Democratic leader is poised to claim victory after winning enough states to amass 264 of the 270 Electoral College votes required, according to The Associated Press and Fox News.

But Trump’s team is challenging vote counts in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan and has asked for a recount in Wisconsin. The president is meanwhile banking on an ongoing count of mail-in votes in Arizona to deliver him a win after Fox News and the AP called the state for Biden.

Trump’s team has called for the news organisations to reverse those calls.

– TIMES/AFP