Trump does not want to concede yet, and here's why

Donald Trump

Pressure is mounting from every corner of the US (and indeed the world) for President Donald Trump to concede to his electoral rival and former Vice President, Joseph Biden after the latter was projected by the US media to have garnered upto 270 electoral college votes in the US elections to become the winner of the elections.

But Trump has refused to concede. His campaign has since made claims about election fraud in multiple battleground states, and have both written to the US Attorney General, William Barr and filed multiple lawsuits in the different states where they intend to present evidence about their claims of electoral fraud and a possible win for Trump.

For the record, claims of election fraud are serious allegations which have to be proven beyond every reasonable doubt in America for them to stand. However, the Trump campaign deems the claims alone serious enough to warrant their silence on the issue of election concession. Personally, I do not blame them, and here is why:

Out of five battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina, Trump only has a lead currently in North Carolina, which he is expected to win. But in the remain four states, Biden has been projected as the winner with mostly slim margins which the Trump campaign argue may not be able to survive a recount or court case as the case may be without flipping to Trump. Hence, they deem a concession speech by Trump to be premature at this point, especially since votes are still being counted in all these states and they are also going to court as well. In fact, in Georgia, a manual recount is currently underway says its Secretary of State.

Joseph Biden

Unlike some Democrats who openly told Biden earlier before the elections "not to concede under any circumstances", Trump has never said he wouldn't concede to Biden if the latter wins. He and Melania have been consistent in saying, "Count every legal vote first, and let the election results be certified by the states". Personally, I see nothing wrong with that, especially since he is a sitting president who has sworn to defend the constitution of the United States. 

If there are doubts about the votes or the election process, he has both a moral/legal duty (as president) and a right (as a candidate) to seek the opinion of the judicial branch of government as to whether, 

1. indeed a president has been duly elected, and

2. whether that person is him or Biden.

And, most importantly, he has both the right and a moral duty to (if he so wishes) wait until "every legal vote has been counted and certified by states" before making any statement. If he deems a statement now to be premature, he is not wrong.

Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and also a civil/structural engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria from where he writes. He can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com