Extract from ABC News
US President Donald Trump tightened the screws on Vice-President Mike Pence to use powers he does not have to overturn the will of voters in a desperate and futile bid to undo President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the November election.
Key points:
- US President Donald Trump has used a speech to a rally in Washington to repeat unfounded claims of election fraud
- He was cheered on wildly by supporters
- Mr Trump used the platform to pour pressure on Mike Pence to use powers he does not have to try and overturn the election result
Speaking at a large pro-Trump rally in Washington DC, the President declared: "If Mike Pence does the right thing we win the election."
"All Vice-President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president and you are the happiest people," Mr Trump added, repeating a falsehood he has been promoting leading up to the congressional session.
"And if they do the wrong thing we should never forget."
Beginning at 1:00pm today (local time) Mr Pence's role is to open the certificates of the electoral votes from each state and present them to the appointed tellers from the House and Senate in Congress in alphabetical order.
At the end of the count, Mr Pence, seated on the House of Representatives' rostrum, has the task of announcing who has won the majority of votes for both president and vice-president.
Mr Pence told Mr Trump during their weekly lunch in the West Wing on Tuesday (local time) that he did not believe he had the power to unilaterally overturn electoral votes, according to a person briefed on the one-on-one conversation.
This person was not authorised to publicly discuss the private discussion, which was first reported by The New York Times, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mr Trump said he spoke with Mr Pence the following morning to urge him to act once again: "I said Mike, that doesn't take courage," he said, "what takes courage is to do nothing."
Mr Pence has no such unilateral power under the Constitution and congressional rules that govern the count.
'We will never concede'
Mr Trump opened his speech by attacking his rivals and announcing that he would never concede the election.
"We will never give up, we will never concede," he said to what he said were "hundreds of thousands" of people at his rally.
The President also once again repeated his oft made and unfounded claims of election fraud.
"You don't concede when there's theft involved ," Mr Trump said.
"Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore. And that's what this is all about. And to use a favourite term that all of you people really came up with, we will 'stop the steal'."
Members of militia and far-right groups also attended the rally, some decked out in body armour.
Washington police earlier banned from the city Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Trump-supporting far-right group the Proud Boys, after he was arrested this week for destruction of property and possession of a firearm magazine.
AP/ABC
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