Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) said Friday that President Trump needs to “put his big boy pants on” and accept defeat in the election.
During an update on vote counting in the city, Kenney was asked to respond to Trump’s comments on Thursday in which he claimed the election was being stolen from him, without providing any evidence.
“What the president needs to do, frankly, is put his big boy pants on. He needs to acknowledge that he lost. And he needs to congratulate the winner,” Kenney said.
“I doubt he’ll listen to me, but that’s my feeling,” the mayor added.
Trump on Thursday said he would ultimately win the election, and promised a lengthy legal battle to challenge the election results in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, where votes were still being counted on Friday.
He also disparaged cities like Philadelphia and Detroit, which are heavily Democratic, as corrupt, warning they “cannot be responsible for engineering the outcome of a presidential race.”
During Friday’s press conference, Kenney said Trump has not produced “one iota of evidence” of voter fraud, adding “what we have seen here in Philadelphia is democracy, pure and simple.”
Democratic nominee Joe Biden overtook Trump in the Pennsylvania vote count just before 9 a.m. on Friday, moving him closer to securing the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
Just before 11 a.m., Biden’s lead stood at 6,826 votes. Ballots are still being counted in the Keystone State.
The Trump campaign issued a statement shortly after the new Pennsylvania numbers were announced, saying the election was not over and hinting at future challenges in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada, while insisting Trump would win Arizona.
“This election is not over. The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final,” said Trump 2020 campaign general counsel Matt Morgan.