For the first time since the Nov. 3 elections, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday acknowledged that his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, won the race.
However, Trump reiterated his unsubstantiated claim that Biden stole the election through rigging.
“He won because the election was rigged,” the president said in a tweet, adding that election observers were denied access to vote counting centres.
Trump also alleged that the votes were tabulated by a “Radical Left privately-owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation and bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas”.
Media outlets called the election in favour of Biden on Nov. 7 after he polled more than the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the race.
Trump, who has refused to concede defeat, has filed several lawsuits in battleground states, alleging widespread voter fraud.
His efforts have largely failed, with the courts dismissing his case for lack of merit.
On Friday, Biden solidified his victory with 306 electoral votes after claiming the state of Georgia, thus becoming the first Democrat to win the Republican stronghold since 1992.
Thousands of the president’s supporters held a rally in Washington on Saturday in support of his allegation of electoral fraud.
