‘Unbelievable’: Piers Morgan slams Donald Trump after claiming early win against Democratic rival Joe Biden

TV host Piers Morgan has ripped into Donald Trump after the President claimed he had already won the US election during a late night speech.

UK political commentator and TV host Piers Morgan has ripped into Donald Trump after the President claimed he had already won the US election during a late night speech.

“Frankly, we did win this election,” Mr Trump said from the East Room of the White House, adding that he would take the election to the Supreme Court if mail-in votes — cast legitimately before the election — are allowed to be counted in the coming days.

“We did win this election... this is a major fraud in our nation so we will be going to the US Supreme Court. To me this is a very sad moment. As far as I’m concerned we did win”.

Despite Mr Trump’s claims, neither candidate has reached the threshold of 270 electoral votes, and millions of votes have yet to be counted.

RELATED: Trump claims victory, vows Supreme Court challenge

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Both sides of the political spectrum across the world have held Trump to account over the claims, described as “one of the most extraordinary election night speeches ever”.

In a series of tweets, Morgan dubbed the comments “unbelievable” and described the claims as “unprecedented assault on American democracy”.

This is unbelievable.
Trump has claimed victory, branded the election a ‘major fraud on the American public’ & demanded no more votes be counted.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 4, 2020

President Trump has just launched an unprecedented assault on American democracy, demanding millions of Americans are denied their votes, & it’s an absolute disgrace.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 4, 2020

Republican party member and US lawyer Rick Santorum told CNN: “I was very distressed by what I just heard the president say.”

So bold were Trump’s claims, even editor of American conservative news and opinion site The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro, tweeted his disapproval.

No, Trump has not already won the election, and it is deeply irresponsible for him to say he has.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 4, 2020

"Frankly, we did win this election," Trump says, declaring victory when he did not yet win the election.

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) November 4, 2020

The difference in two candidates, at a time with many outstanding ballots in key states:

Joe Biden: “We believe we’re on track to win this election...we have to be patient. It ain’t over until every vote is counted”

Donald Trump: “As far as I’m concerned, we already have won."

— Matt Viser (@mviser) November 4, 2020

Mr Trump’s early election claim was, reportedly, a plan set in motion last week.

Three sources familiar with the Trump campaign told Axios that the President had warned confidants he would declare victory if it looked like he was “ahead”, despite the large number of uncounted mail votes.

Meanwhile Joe Biden’s campaign manager responded to Trump’s comments, calling them “outrageous”.

“The president’s statement about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect,” Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

“The counting will not stop. It will continue until every duly cast vote is counted. Because that is what our laws — the laws that protect every Americans’ constitutional right to vote — require.”

Ms O’Malley Dillon reiterated neither candidate decided the outcome of the election: “The American people decide the outcome of this election. And the democratic process must and will continue until its conclusion.”

JUST IN: @JoeBiden campaign manager @jomalleydillon responds to the president’s comments on the election, calling them “outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect.” pic.twitter.com/s56VzfLNCn

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) November 4, 2020

Most pre-election polling predicted an easy win for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, but now that the big day is finally here, the race is turning out to be much tighter than many expected.

So what does it all mean for the former reality TV star?

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Ahead of time, most major betting agencies had Joe Biden as the clear favourite – but as election day kicked off, we’ve seen a dramatic turnaround in that department.

In fact, this afternoon TAB announced Mr Trump was now the favourite to win the US election, priced at $1.40 compared to Biden at $2.80.

It’s the first time Trump has been favourite since September 24.

RELATED: When we’ll know US election results

Democratic nominee Joe Biden is no longer the favourite, according to TAB. Picture: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP

RELATED: The key swing states to watch on election night

The price move comes on the back of several swing states looking favourable for the Republican.

It’s a massive change from 10.45am this morning, when Mr Trump was priced at $2.65 and Mr Biden $1.48.

SEA OF RED

It’s a similar story when you look at the election maps, with most resembling a sea of red – indicating a Republican landslide.

In fact, at first glance, the maps indicate that a similar story is unfolding to 2016, when Donald Trump blindsided most of the world by stealing victory from Hillary Clinton’s grasp.

Here’s what happened in 2016, compared with the results so far this afternoon.

The 2016 results … Picture: Fox News

Compared with 2020 so far. Picture: Fox News

BEWARE OF ‘MIRAGE’

However, there’s far more to it than meets the eye.

An important factor to realise is that the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania all do not allow election officials to count the mail-in ballots ahead of time.

That means that what we’re seeing at the moment is a disproportionate amount of election day, Trump-leaning votes – but much of the vote still to come is the crucial Biden-leaning early vote.

In the early stages of the election, we saw Mr Biden streak ahead in the states of North Carolina, Florida and Ohio, only to have Mr Trump catch up there later.

That’s because the reverse situation is true in those states – they count the mail-in vote ahead of time, so the early lead for Mr Biden was what has been dubbed a “blue mirage” there.

It means that what we’re seeing unfold in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania could be an opposite, “red mirage” – but they could easily end up falling Mr Biden’s way.

It’s especially important because out of all the so-called battleground states, Pennsylvania has long been seen as the most crucial of all.

It is considered to be the most likely “tipping point” state, meaning if the election comes down to a single state, Pennsylvania is probably going to be the one.

However, Mr Trump has never come close to leading in the polling average there.