Chris Christie attacks Trump for baselessly claiming victory

‘He has undercut his own credibility,’ the longtime Trump ally says

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie sharply criticised Donald Trump after the president falsely declared victory at a press conference that came as many states were still counting ballots.

Mr Christie, a top ally and adviser of Mr Trump's, told ABC News that he disagreed with the president's claims that a "major fraud" was at hand in the US election, arguing that the incumbent made a "bad" political and strategic decision.

Speaking on ABC News early on Wednesday morning, Mr Christie said, "I talk tonight not as a former governor, but as a former US attorney. There's just no basis to make that argument tonight. There just isn't. All these votes have to counted that are in now. Tonight, this was not the time this argument."

Mr Christie, who previously served as US attorney for New Jersey, reminded viewers that votes were still being counted in key battleground states like Pennsylvania.

"I disagree with what he did tonight," Mr Christie said. "There comes a point where you have to let the process play itself out before you judge it to have been flawed. I think by prematurely doing this, if there is a flaw in it later, he has undercut his own credibility in calling attention to that flaw."

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He added, "I think it's a bad strategic decision, it's a bad political decision, and it's not the kind of decision you would expect someone to make tonight who holds the position he holds."

The election is coming down to the wire between Mr Trump and Joe Biden, who are still locked in tight elections in a number of crucial states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, which remain uncalled.

That did not, however, stop Mr Trump from prematurely declaring himself the winner and calling for a halt to vote-counting in a White House speech early Wednesday.

"This is a fraud on the American public," the president said. "This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity."

Mr Biden, meanwhile, told his supporters that he believed he was "on track" to win but asked them to "be patient" as states continue counting ballots.

Speaking in Delaware, the former vice president said, "We knew because of the unprecedented early mail-in vote that it was going to take a while. We're going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying votes is finished and it ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted."