Republican Senators back Donald Trump’s allegation of election fraud

At least two Republican senators have backed incumbent Republican Donald Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, especially regarding the mail-in ballots, AFP reported. “If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” Trump claimed in his Thursday’s address at the White House, adding that if “illegal votes” are counted, “they (Democrats) can try to steal the election from us.”

“STOP THE FRAUD!” he tweeted on Thursday.

“All of the recent Biden claimed States will be legally challenged by us for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud. Plenty of proof,” he said in another .

Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz backed Trump’s claim in back-to-back appearances on Fox News.

Also read: US networks halt Donald Trump’s live address due to ‘lies’

“I’ll tell you the president is angry and I’m angry and the voters ought to be angry,” Cruz told the network’s host Sean Hannity, whose evening show is a favorite of Trump.

Cruz alleged falsely that Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general had ordered vote-counting in the state’s largest city of Philadelphia “until Joe Biden wins.”

“We need to get in there now,” Cruz said of voting centers.

Pennsylvania officials say they will continue counting votes from Tuesday’s election until they have accounted for all ballots, AFP reported.

The state’s Republican-led legislature had refused to allow the counting of votes before Election Day despite a deluge of mail-in ballots due to safety concerns in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The final ballots being counted are largely from Philadelphia and are expected to favor Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who would capture the White House with a victory in the state.

Asked by Hannity if the Pennsylvania legislature could refuse to recognize the results and instead give the state’s electoral votes to Trump, Graham replied, “I think everything should be on the table.”

The 65-year old Senator, who won re-election on Tuesday in South Carolina, described the election in Philadelphia as “crooked as a snake.”

“Why are they shutting people out? Because they don’t want people to see what they’re doing,” said Graham.

Also read: Donald Trump Jr sons asks his father to ‘wage a war against election fraud’

Trump’s campaign has pushed for its observers to have closer access to vote counting.

The city had allowed in the observers but asked them to keep a distance of at least 15 feet (4.5 meters) due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

A court Thursday sided with the Trump campaign and permitted the observers to approach closer but the Philadelphia Board of Elections appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, saying that the observers had sufficient access in line with the law.

Pennsylvania is a key battleground state and its 20 electoral college votes makes it crucial for either of the contestants.

With 95% of the estimated votes counted, Trump with 49.5% of votes, has a thin lead over Biden, who has 49.2% of votes, according to The New York Times.

Biden, with 253 electoral votes currently leads Trump’s 214. If the former wins the crucial state, he’ll easily cross the 270 mark needed to clinch victory.