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Barack Obama calls Trump a 'two-bit dictator'

Tuesday, 03 November 2020 2:05 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 03 November 2020 2:05 PM ]

Former US President Barack Obama speaks at a drive-in rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden in Miami, Florida on November 2, 2020. (AFP photo)

Former US President Barack Obama has called President Donald Trump a "two-bit dictator" after Trump reportedly said he would declare victory after polls are closed on Tuesday, but before all votes are counted.

Obama, a strong advocate for Joe Biden's presidential campaign, addressing a rally for Biden on Monday praised the Biden-Kamala Harris presidential effort and warned against another term of Trump in office.

Reports were published over the weekend that suggested Trump may declare himself victor of the November 3 election before a final vote count.

"He's been coddling dictators for the last four years," Obama said. "And now, apparently, he says he might declare victory before all the votes are counted tomorrow."

The Axios news site on Sunday reported that Trump had told confidants he would declare victory on Tuesday night if it looked like he's ahead.

That's even if the Electoral College outcome still hinged on large numbers of uncounted votes in key states like Pennsylvania, the report said.

Trump called it a "false report" but also repeated his argument that "I don't think it's fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election."

Under the coronavirus pandemic, early and mail-in voting has reached unprecedented levels in the US. A record 93 million early votes have already been cast, according to the nonpartisan US Elections Project.

Fears of tensions on Election Night and afterward are growing as vote counting expected to continue due to the large number of mail-in ballots.

Many states will take longer than usual to count their mail-in ballots as some state laws, including in Pennsylvania, prevent election officials from counting mail-in ballots before Election Day.

Trump cast doubt on the integrity of the US election again, saying a vote count that stretched past Election Day would be a “terrible thing” and suggesting his lawyers might get involved.

Biden maintains lead as Trump ‘plans to declare premature victory’

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden maintains his national lead in polls over President Donald Trump with just one day to go until the November third election.

“I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election,” Trump told reporters before a rally in North Carolina.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that mail-in ballots are open to fraud, and warned Saturday of "bedlam in our country" if no clear winner emerges quickly.

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