Donald Trump has made his first public appearance since his election defeat.

He spent 10 minutes honouring America’s war veterans yesterday at the annual Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery.

It was his first outing for official business in more than a week.

The president has made no comments in person since Democrat Joe Biden clinched the 270 electoral votes on Saturday needed to win the presidency.

He’s spent the past few days in private tweeting angry, unsupported claims of voter fraud.

Before setting off for the solemn commemoration at Arlington, Trump tweeted to slam ‘fake pollsters’ and claim that a Republican city commissioner who defended the vote tabulation in Philadelphia wasn’t a true Republican.

He also sought to draw attention to a Pennsylvania poll worker who recanted allegations of voter fraud on Tuesday before reasserting his allegations on Wednesday.

Trump later posted a debunked video that had purported to show poll workers collecting ballots too late.

‘You are looking at BALLOTS! Is this what our Country has come to?’ Trump fumed.

Although his official schedule has been bare of public events, Trump has made several personnel moves – firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installing three staunch loyalists in top defense jobs. His pick as acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, was among the Pentagon brass that joined him at Arlington.

Some supporters pushed back against the notion that Trump is shirking his presidential duties.

‘The president is out there as much as he’s ever been on Twitter, and the White House team are moving ahead with budget and staffing priorities,’ said Dan Eberhart, a prominent Republican donor and Trump backer.

He added: ‘The president is understandably focused on the ballot counting, but at some point soon he needs to turn his attention back to the lame duck session and putting a capstone on his first four years.’

President-elect Joe Biden hit out at Donald Trump’s ’embarrassing’ refusal to concede the election – and insisted he will taking over the White House regardless.

Asked about Trump’s behavior on Tuesday, Biden told journalists: ‘I just think its an embarrassment. How can I say this tactfully? I think it will not help the president’s legacy.’

However, few senior staffers have been around the president in recent days, with many either in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 or in insolation after a confirmed exposure or simply not wanting to be near the Oval Office, according to White House staffers and campaign officials. Staff working from the White House thinned out after chief of staff Mark Meadows confirmed last week that he had tested positive for the virus.

Some staffers still believe the election outcome can change with litigation and recounts. But there is a growing recognition among most that the election is lost and the building will be vacated by January 20.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article