UPDATED: Global figures are looking on in fascination at the “explosive” U.S. presidential election race between incumbent Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden, which remains undecided as votes are counted in a handful of swing states.
Trump’s false declaration in the early hours of Wednesday that he “did win this election” has polarized the international community, with some conservative politicians applauding the president’s chutzpah, while others simply look on in disbelief.
In Germany, a long-time ally of the U.S., senior politicians did not hold back in their disdain for the election night antics. Germany’s defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has accused President Trump of thrusting the U.S. into a “battle for legitimacy” with his declaration of victory. Referring to a possible “constitutional crisis” that was predicted by political experts, Kramp-Karrenbauer told German broadcaster ZDF that the situation is “explosive.”
The situation has also drawn excited comment in Russia.
According to The Moscow Times, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said, “Biden might get a lot of votes, but Donald Trump will still emerge the winner because he’s done more for Americans than any president before him. That’s considering that he faced obstruction from the very first day.”
Zhirinovsky held that Americans are “tired of anarchy” and that the country “is experiencing the same turmoil — pogroms, looting and violence — that we in Russia lived through 400 years ago.”
“America is more divided than ever. The situation is extremely fraught and the conflict will build up, in my opinion, while I’m afraid anarchy will take hold in some cities, as we’ve seen,” added Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov. “I think that Biden, seeing that he is losing, might call for mass unrest. The situation is heating up.”
Elsewhere, Slovenia Prime Minister Janez Jansa made a premature announcement of his own via a Twitter post on Wednesday morning, when election results were far from decided. “It’s pretty clear that American people have elected @realDonaldTrump @Mike_Pence for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations @GOP for strong results across the #US @idualliance.”
The post has since been flagged by Twitter with a caution that reads, “Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted.”
It’s pretty clear that American people have elected @realDonaldTrump @Mike_Pence for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations @GOP for strong results across the #US @idualliance pic.twitter.com/vzSwt9TBeF
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 4, 2020
Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K. Brexit party and election campaigner for Trump, is sceptical of the postal ballot system, especially after the president cast aspersions on the process early Wednesday.
“I think his comments tonight are out of frustration and I’m not surprised,” said Farage, speaking to BBC News. “I mean, to think that America in the 21st century is incapable of counting votes, state by state, and coming to a result is a pretty bad thing for America.
“What he’s talking about is the potential of voter fraud, and what he was especially talking about was the idea of late votes coming in. And that clearly shouldn’t be allowed now,” continued Farage. “I’m personally very anti-postal voting in totality, but I guess, during a pandemic, that option had to be offered.”
When the BBC asked Farage whether there was any evidence of postal fraud, Farage said that it was so new that it hadn’t come to light yet.
Referring to the U.K. postal ballot system, Farage said, “We know from our own experience — our own miserable experience, 20 years of massively extending postal voting — [that] not only is there fraud, there’s intimidation. We’ve seen it again. Look, I think you’re seeing tonight a president that is frustrated that we haven’t got a clear result.”
Meanwhile, U.K. foreign secretary Dominic Raab remained confident that relations between the U.S. and U.K. will remain “in good shape” no matter which presidential candidate wins.
“I’m confident there is an excellent free trade deal to be done; there’s been a lot of progress so far,” Raab told Sky News. “Let’s wait and see what the outcome is. There is obviously a significant amount of uncertainty. It is much closer than many had expected, but this is for the American people to decide, and we’re confident in the American institutions that will produce a result.”
Raab also spoke glowingly about the “bedrock” of shared values and economic ties and security co-operation between the two nations, noting that the relationship would be “even stronger” going forward.
Raab remained resolutely diplomatic and refused to be drawn on Trump’s remarks despite being repeatedly questioned by the BBC and Sky.
This story is continuously being updated with reactions.