US election: Anthony Albanese denies pushing Scott Morrison to phone Donald Trump

Anthony Albanese has claimed he never asked Scott Morrison to phone Donald Trump and urge the US President to concede the election.

Anthony Albanese, left, says he didn’t suggest Scott Morrison should tell Donald Trump to respect the democratic process. Picture: Kym Smith

Anthony Albanese has claimed he never asked Scott Morrison to phone Donald Trump and urge the US President to concede the election, arguing he was calling on the Prime Minister to stand up for democratic principles.

The Opposition Leader was privately ridiculed in Labor ranks for urging the Prime Minister on Friday to “contact” Mr Trump and ask him to respect the democratic process instead of arguing he was the victim of electoral fraud.

“Scott Morrison has a close relationship with President Trump. We saw that when he ­attended the de facto campaign rally in Ohio with President Trump,” Mr Albanese said on Friday. “He should be contacting President Trump and conveying Australia’s strong view that democratic processes must be respected.”

Mr Albanese also issued a joint press release with opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong on Friday, calling on Mr Morrison to “urge President Trump to respect the process”.

But, on Monday, Mr Albanese denied he urged Mr Morrison to call Mr Trump.

“I didn’t suggest that, ever. What I suggested was that Scott Morrison needed to show in some way, that was one way he could have done it, demonstrate support for our democratic principles at a time when members of the Australian government have been out there questioning the democratic process,” Mr Albanese said.

“If you question the democratic process in one country, you question it everywhere. And the fact is that there is a very clear outcome in the United States. Its institutions have worked well, and the Prime Minister acknowledged that yesterday in saying that the United States president-elect Joe Biden was indeed the president-elect, prior to Donald Trump conceding.”

One Labor MP told The Australian: “Denying your own press release, or that you said something, is worthy of the Trump White House.”

Labor Left MP Josh Wilson said he “can’t imagine President Trump was taking a lot of calls”. “The starting point is we are outsiders to the American process, and we should respect America, their process and the voters there that decide the outcome of a presidential election,” he said.