Trump: Leaders Called on Election Night to Congratulate, Then Votes Came in ‘Dumps’

President Donald Trump participates in a Thanksgiving teleconference with members of the United States Military, at the White House on Nov. 26, 2020. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump said world leaders called to congratulate him on election night, but then, he said, votes came in “dumps.” He added that his team will appeal recent court losses to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“All of a sudden,” he said in a Fox Business interview on Nov. 29, “I went from winning by a lot to losing by a little” in key states.

“Many foreign leaders are calling me saying that’s the most messed-up election we’ve ever seen,” Trump later said.

As an example, the president cited allegations of voter fraud in irregularities made by poll watchers in Pennsylvania, asserting that observers for the GOP were “thrown out” of vote-tabulation centers on Nov. 3 and beyond.

“Poll watchers are very important,” Trump said, adding that they “got thrown out of buildings” in some areas, namely in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Detroit. “Poll watchers were walked out ... by thugs.”

“We have hundreds and hundreds of affidavits” from witnesses who said they saw fraud or irregularities. “These are respected people ... these are people whose lives are at risk,” Trump said, adding that judges in some battleground states told him that he doesn’t have “standing” to make the claim.

Poll observers Justin Kweder and Kim Peterson—two witnesses at the Pennsylvania GOP Senate hearing—testified that they couldn’t properly observe anything at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

“The Philadelphia Board of Elections processed hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots with zero civilian oversight or observation,” Kweder said.

Allegheny County election employees organize ballots at the Allegheny County elections warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Nov. 7, 2020. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Trump said there were ballots in some areas that had Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s name filled in, and no other candidates.

“They panicked and checked only Biden on the top” and didn’t fill out anything else, the president said in the interview.

His remarks came as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Nov. 28 overturned a lower court’s order that blocked election officials from certifying the results of the presidential election. In an unsigned opinion, the state’s top court ruled to reverse Commonwealth Judge Patricia McCullough’s temporary injunction that would have prevented the state from taking further steps to complete the certification of the presidential race.

Trump’s lawyers said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the Fox interview on Nov. 29, the president confirmed that his team would appeal the case.

Secretaries of state in some states have said they’ve found no evidence of fraud or irregularities that would be enough to overturn the election.

Other than the legal challenges, Trump’s lawyers have suggested that GOP state legislatures could vote to certify their own slates of electors that would be sent to the Electoral College.

“We’re doing both, with equal speed and enthusiasm, and taking advantage of which one gives us the hearing the quickest. And which one will work fastest for us,” said Giuliani on Newsmax, referring to the dual strategy of lobbying state legislatures and filing lawsuits. ”Because we don’t have a lot of time. We’ve got a lot of evidence; we don’t have a lot of time. And we’re facing a major censorship, so it’s very hard to get this information out to the public.

“The situation in Michigan was worse than the situation in Pennsylvania,” Giuliani said in the Newsmax interview. “The situation in Wisconsin was outrageous. I mean, they have all these absentee ballots without applications. In Nevada, they used a machine that basically didn’t work and let every signature go through, even though it’s illegal to use a machine.”