Secretary of State says there will be ‘a smooth transition to a second Trump administration’

Donald Trump is still refusing to accept his election loss and now one of his most senior officials has seemingly insisted the president isn’t going anywhere.

World leaders have already congratulated President-elect Joe Biden – but according to a top White House official, Donald Trump isn’t going anywhere.

Speaking to reporters early on Wednesday morning Australian time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked whether the State Department was ready to co-operate with the Biden team as they prepared to take over, despite Mr Trump’s allegations of voter fraud.

It was a straightforward question – but Mr Pompeo’s answer astonished those present.

“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Mr Pompeo replied with a slight chuckle.

“We’re ready. The world is watching what’s taking place. We’re gonna count all the votes. When the process is complete, there’ll be electors selected. There’s a process. The Constitution lays it out pretty clearly.

“The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today … and successful with a president who’s in office on January 20, a minute after noon, will also be successful.”

.@SecPompeo: "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

Full video here: https://t.co/6Rou91HQxv pic.twitter.com/MU9Gp2QWnq

— CSPAN (@cspan) November 10, 2020

Mr Pompeo’s laugh after his “second Trump administration” caused many to speculate whether the comment was intended as a joke – but regardless, it has sparked widespread anger among Americans who are growing increasingly frustrated by the Republican Party’s actions since the November 3 vote.

Many compared Mr Trump’s actions and Mr Pompeo’s comments to “treason” and “fascism”.

According to Bloomberg, State Department officials have failed to respond to a request to clarify Mr Pompeo’s sensational comments.

But he slapped down a suggestion from a reporter that the US election saga discouraged other governments across the world to accept free and fair elections, branding it “ridiculous”.

“We often encounter situations where it’s not clear about a particular election. We work to uncover fact. We work to do discover, to learn whether in fact the outcome, the decision that was made reflected the will of the people,” he said.

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World leaders have already congratulated President-elect Joe Biden. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

“We want every one of those votes to be counted in the same way that we have every expectation that every vote here in the United States will be counted to, it is totally appropriate.”

Earlier this morning Mr Trump was back on Twitter, again declaring he would ultimately end up winning the race.

Pennsylvania Party Leadership votes are this week. I hope they pick very tough and smart fighters. We will WIN!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020

DONALD’S DUMMY SPIT

When Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, he picked up 306 electoral college votes compared with her 232, but lost the popular vote by almost three million ballots.

At the time, he declared his win a “landslide” – but this time around, he is refusing to accept the results, despite losing the popular vote to Joe Biden by more than 4.5 million votes so far.

More importantly, Mr Trump has received just 214 electoral college votes compared with Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden’s 290.

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In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost three million ballots. Picture: Fox News

To win a US election, a candidate must secure a crucial 270 electoral college votes to claim victory, and while three states – Alaska, Georgia and North Carolina – are still counting, they would not make a difference to the final result.

Mr Trump has repeatedly, and with no evidence, insisted his Democratic Party rivals were trying to “steal” the election and made baseless allegations of voter fraud.