US president Donald Trump has said that a coronavirus vaccine will be available to Americans by April, as he made his first public comments following the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election.
At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump took no questions, but he did appear to admit that he may not be in power on January 20th.
Discussing his coronavirus strategy, Mr Trump said: “this administration will not be going to a lockdown... hopefully… whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell.”
His comments come as the president refuses to accept the outcome of the election which was called for his Democratic opponent Mr Biden almost a week ago after the former vice-president won the state of Pennsylvania.
Shortly before his appearance, Mr Trump appeared to encourage pro-Trump demonstrators who are expected to descend on Washington on Saturday.
“Heartwarming to see all of the tremendous support out there, especially the organic Rallies that are springing up all over the Country, including a big one on Saturday in DC. I may even try to stop by and say hello,” he said, adding that the election was “rigged,” – a comment that was flagged by Twitter as a disputed claim.
There have been other pro-Trump protests around the country since Mr Biden was projected the winner on November 7th, but they have been small and unfolded with few incidents. The pro-Trump demonstrations in Washington and other cities are scheduled to feature a mix of the president’s backers, far-right personalities and members of the Oath Keepers militia and Proud Boys in a public display of support for his effort to stay in power.
Organisers have given the rallies various names, including the Million MAGA March, the March for Trump and Stop the Steal. MAGA is an acronym for the Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Some left-wing groups are planning counter-demonstrations in Washington and other cities.
Outlining the progress of “Operation Warp Speed” – his administration’s coronavirus vaccine and therapeutic strategy - Mr Trump claimed that “if you had a different administration with different people what we’ve done in my opinion would have taken, would have taken three, four, five years... and it would have been at the FDA forever” - a reference to the US regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration.
Throughout Friday, Mr Trump continued to reject the result of the presidential election even as the states of Arizona and Georgia were called for Mr Biden,
giving him a final tally of 306 Electoral College votes, far more than the 270 needed to be elected president and above Mr Trump’s 232. The 306 votes was equal to what Mr Trump won in his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton, which he then called a “landslide.”
Mr Trump again tweeted unfounded claims that the election was rigged, despite no evidence to suggest any widespread election fraud. “Rigged Election!” he tweeted, prompting a now-familiar warning from Twitter on his social media feed.
Senior administration officials also questioned the outcome of the election. On Fox News, Pete Navarro, a top trade adviser to the president, said that the White House was operating on the basis that Mr Trump would win. “We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption there will be a second Trump term,” he said.
The defiance from the White House comes as officials from an agency working within the Department of Homeland Security said that the election was “the most secure in American history.” “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement. It follows Mr Trump’s unfounded claim on twitter that election machines had “deleted 2.7 million Trump votes nationwide”.
Mr Biden’s win in Arizona, where he was leading by over 11,000 votes, was a particular blow to the Trump campaign which had been hoping that it could flip to the president as final votes were counted. Mr Biden will become the first Democratic president to carry the state since Bill Clinton in 1996. Mr Biden also won the state of Georgia, becoming the first Democrat to flip the state in 28 years, though a hand recount is under way. Mr Biden’s legal team in Georgia said on Friday they do not expect a hand recount of votes in the state to change the results there. –Additional reporting Reuters
