Concede or Proceed?

LATEST UPDATE - December 7

• President Donald Trump said he is “2 and 0” in election wins and criticized the U.S. for being “like a third world country” as he continues to promote unsubstantiated claims that the election was fraudulent.
• Trump made the remarks while presenting wrestler Dan Gable with the Medal of Freedom at the White House Monday.

“He won 117 consecutive matches and lost only one, well you know in politics I won two, so I’m 2 and 0, and that’s pretty good too, but we’ll see how that turns out."

• Speaking to reporters after the event, Trump again floated conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting system changing ballots, glitches in election-related software, and magically-appearing votes.

“It was a rigged election, if you look at the different states the election was totally rigged, it’s a disgrace to our country, it’s like a third world country these ballots pouring in from everywhere, using machinery that nobody knows ownership, nobody knows anything about, they have glitches as they call them, glitches, the glitches who aren’t glitches."

• Referring to an unknown "they" - presumably the Biden campaign - the president continued:

“They got caught sending out thousands of votes. All against me by the way. This was like from a third world nation and I think the case has been made and now we find out what we can do about it.”

Earlier updates appear below.

Earlier updates

December 1

• Allies of President Trump want a federal court in Michigan to force Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) to set aside election results and award its 16 electoral votes to the president.  
• And Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) asked the Supreme Court to nullify Biden's in Pennsylvania as he challenges mail-in ballot rules. (Kelly’s request comes after Gov. Tom Wolf already certified that Biden won the state's 20 Electoral College votes.)
• The Michigan lawsuit, filed by Trump-affiliated attorney Sidney Powell and a cadre of other attorneys, reads:

"The multifaceted schemes and artifices implemented by defendants and their collaborators to defraud resulted in the unlawful counting, or manufacturing, of hundreds of thousands of illegal, ineligible, duplicate or purely fictitious ballots in the State of Michigan, that constitute a multiple of Biden’s purported lead in the State."

• Another lawsuit by a conservative group is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to invalidate the results that show President-elect Joe Biden won the state. 
• There is no evidence of widespread election fraud in Michigan or elsewhere. Biden earned roughly 154,000 more votes than Trump in Michigan.
• Trump (kind of) acknowledged on Sunday that Biden won the presidency, and again pushed/blamed unfounded claims of voter fraud.

In another tweet, Trump vowed:

 "I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go."

• Later, he tweeted:

Previous Updates

• In a new interview, President Donald Trump again refused to acknowledge that he had been beaten by President-elect Joe Biden, insisting that his campaign’s legal challenges would reverse the race’s outcome and arguing that Americans should “never bet against me.”
• President-elect Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election is "an embarrassment" that would "not help his legacy."
• At a press conference Tuesday, the former vice president said that his transition is "well under way" and that he is already reviewing potential Cabinet picks and other positions.
• Biden said key Republicans' refusal to accept his victory "is not of much consequence in our plan and what we're able to do between now and January 20."

Earlier updates:

• President Donald Trump is signalling that he has no intention of conceding the race, and is continuing to push unfounded claims of voter fraud.

The above quote comes from a statement Trump made on Saturday about the election results. Other lines from the statement include:

• "Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor."
• "It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access."

“So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”

The Trump campaign has blitzed state and federal courts with about a dozen lawsuits, the majority of which were filed in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan—states where 1) Biden’s margin of victory is relatively slim and/or 2) where a winner has yet to be called.

Judges have already tossed out or ruled against Trump campaign lawsuits in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Michigan. The campaign has also requested a recount of election results in Wisconsin.

-Josh Herman