Barack Obama rips into Donald Trump for refusing to concede US presidential election

Barack Obama has attacked Donald Trump for “refusing to concede” and “convincing millions of Americans that he was cheated by Joe Biden”.

Former US president Barack Obama has ripped into Donald Trump for “refusing to concede” and “convincing millions of Americans that he was cheated by Joe Biden”.

The former president’s comments came in a clip from an interview with CBS’ Gayle King, set to air in full on Sunday (local time), The Sun reported.

“When Donald Trump won, I stayed up until 2.30 in the morning and I then called Donald Trump to congratulate him,” Mr Obama said of the 2016 election.

“His margin of victory over Hillary Clinton wasn’t greater than Joe Biden’s margin over him.”

Mr Obama then slammed Mr Trump over how he said the current President has convinced millions of Americans that the election was fraudulent – despite a lack of evidence and election officials saying there was no proof that would have changed the outcome.

He said the baseless “allegations are presented as facts”.

“So you’ve got millions of people out there who think, ‘Oh yeah, there must be cheating because the President said so,’” Mr Obama said.

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Donald Trump was welcomed to the White House on Inauguration Day by then president Barack Obama. Picture: J Scott Applewhite/AFP

Donald Trump with Barack Obama and their wives on Inauguration Day. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

Mr Trump claimed an early victory in the early hours of November 4, the day after the election – despite there being millions of votes that had yet to be counted.

Although Mr Trump held a lead in many battleground states, as more ballots were counted – including a large amount of absentee and mail-in votes – Democrat rival Joe Biden pulled ahead.

Mr Biden is now the projected winner of the presidency, with 306 electoral college votes compared to Mr Trump’s 232, according to CNN and other outlets.

Mr Obama assured that no matter what Mr Trump and his team claim about him winning a second term, come January, Mr Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office.

“Well, look, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the next vice president,” Mr Obama insisted.

He said there’s “no legal basis” for any alternative.

Mr Obama continued, saying that since Mr Trump and his team were silent about fraud claims during the first two days of the election “they obviously didn’t think there was any fraud going on”.

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Barack Obama supported Joe Biden during the election campaign. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

“But there’s damage to this because what happens is that the peaceful transfer of power, the notion that any of us who attain an elected office, whether it’s dog catcher or president, are servants of the people,” Mr Obama said.

“It’s a temporary job.”

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Donald Trump and Barack Obama shake hands during a transition planning meeting at the White House. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

“We’re not above the rules. We’re not above the law. That’s the essence of our democracy,” he said.

Mr Trump and his campaign team have launched legal battles in several key battleground states or demanded recounts as he continues to insist he won a second term.

Many of the suits have been overturned, as election officials say there is no evidence of fraud that would change the results of the election.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission