U.S. President Donald Trump said he will exit the White House if the Electoral College votes for Democratic president-elect Joe Biden.
Trump said conceding defeat wasn't easy. "It's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud," reports quoted Trump as saying late Thursday.
The incumbent president's administration has already agreed to a formal transition. But Trump still takes issue with the election count.
Trump spoke with U.S. troops during the traditional Thanksgiving Day address to members of the U.S. military.
Trump said there were many things "happening between now and Jan. 20" and the election outcome has a "long way" to go. The Electoral College is scheduled to meet Dec. 14. Biden is set to be sworn into office Jan. 20.
Commenting on the Biden transition Trump said "it's not right that he's trying to pick a cabinet" - although officials from both sides are already in the process of getting Biden's administration up to speed.
Biden won the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential polls with 306 Electoral College votes compared with Trump's 232. Biden also leads Trump by more than 6 million in the popular vote count.
According to Trump, Joe Biden "didn't get 80 million votes...the only way he got 80 million votes is through massive fraud," The Telegraph reported.
Trump encouraged the news media not to let Biden take the credit for pending COVID vaccines.
"Don't let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me...I pushed people harder than they've ever been pushed before," he said.
Trump and Biden both stayed close to home for Thanksgiving as the world health crisis continues to batter the U.S. - nearing 13 million confirmed COVID cases and with more than 263,000 deaths.
