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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Friday morning.
- President Donald Trump tweeted his rage over the razor-thin electoral margins - and potential recounts and runoffs - in Georgia and Florida.
- Trump claimed Republicans Brian Kemp and Rick Scott had won their respective gubernatorial and senatorial bids, and promoted a conspiracy that Democrats are fabricating votes in Florida.
President Donald Trump tweeted his rage about razor-thin electoral margins in Georgia and Florida, asserting unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud in Florida.
Trump claimed on Friday that Georgia's secretary of state, Republican Brian Kemp, had defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in the state's gubernatorial race, despite the fact that the race remains too close to call.
"It's time to move on!" the president wrote.
With ballots still being counted, Abrams is closing Kemp's narrow lead and the contest may be heading towards a runoff.
Trump also continued pushing the GOP conspiracy that local Florida elections officials - specifically in Democratic-leaning Broward County - are commit ing electoral fraud by miscounting or making up votes in order to swing the election for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.
Trump claimed during a news conference on Friday morning that Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for Senate, had "easily won" the election. As of Friday morning, Scott had a 15,000 vote lead over Nelson, which is well within the margin for an automatic recount.
"You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia - but the Election was on Tuesday? Let's blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!" Trump tweeted.
Scott claimed on Thursday that "unethical liberals" and "left-wing activists" will "find as many votes as it takes to try to win this election." Other prominent Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, are also accusing Democrats of committing fraud to steal the election. (The president thanked Rubio for his efforts in another Friday afternoon tweet).
Trump also tweeted Friday that Marc Elias - Nelson's elections lawyer, who also served as general counsel for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election - is masterminding the electoral fraud. The president pointed to Elias' involvement in hiring the research firm Fusion GPS to investigate him during the election - an effort that resulted in the notorious dossier on Trump's connections to Russia - in an apparent attempt to cast doubt on the Florida recount effort.
"As soon as Democrats sent their best Election stealing lawyer, Marc Elias, to Broward County they miraculously started finding Democrat votes," Trump tweeted. "Don't worry, Florida - I am sending much better lawyers to expose the FRAUD!"
During his Fox News program Thursday night Sean Hannity also tied the recount effort to Fusion GPS and the Steele dossier.
"This is the single biggest abuse of power in an election I've seen," Hannity said.
Trump tweeted yet again about the Florida Senate race on Friday, suggesting that Democrats are following a playbook of fraud.
"How come they never find Republican votes?" the president wrote, adding in still more tweets that Broward County officials "probably" attempted to "falsify" votes in the 2016 election as well. "This is an embarrassment to our Country and to Democracy!"