Donald Trump’s campaign team has launched an ‘official election defense fund’ and is asking supporters to donate money. The crowdfunding scheme is pleading with Republican voters for cash to help pay for any legal battles that take place in the wake of the bitterly contested US election.

In an email sent round to Republican supporters in the US, the email claims ‘the radical left’ are ‘trying to steal the election from the American people’. It is asking voters to contribute to help Donald Trump ‘fight back’ if he loses the US election and launches a legal battle to try and win back the White House.

It comes as Donald Trump and members of his campaign team have repeatedly and wrongly suggested that millions of mail-in ballot votes in several states are ‘illegal’ because they are taking longer to count than in-person votes.

The President, 74, has demanded the vote count be stopped as Democrat Joe Biden pulls ahead in the race for the Presidency thanks to huge amounts of mail-in votes in his favour.

The Trump campaign has already failed with two lawsuits against the states of Michigan and Georgia that were launched over the way the counting process has been carried out. The President has repeatedly made threats of legal challenges against states like Nevada and Pennsylvania, where votes are still being counted more than 48 hours after polls closed.

As it stands Donald Trump trails his rival Joe Biden 264-214 with Biden, 77, in the lead in the battleground states of Georgia and Nevada.

Now, as the presidency seemingly slips away from Donald Trump, his team are appealing for financial support to help them contest the result of the election if necessary.

The email, which was sent to supporters on Thursday, wrongly suggests votes cannot be counted after the polls closed on Tuesday, despite US election rules on mail-in votes saying otherwise.

The email said: ‘The Democrats are trying to STEAL the election. We will never let them do it.

‘I need EVERY patriot, including YOU, to step up and make sure we have enough resources to protect the integrity of our election. I need YOUR HELP to stop the left-wing mob from undermining our election.

‘Only YOU can save our country from the radical left. Don’t let your country down.’

The email gives voters the chance to donate sums of money ranging from $5 to $2,800.

The Trump campaign says the money is needed to help them ‘make sure only legal ballots are counted’.

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