Melania Trump breaks silence to back husband’s unfounded claims of voter fraud

‘Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted’

Melania Trump has broken her silence on Twitter in the wake of Joe Biden’s election victory, backing Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of electoral fraud.

“The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency,” the first lady tweeted on Sunday.

The tweet, which marks the first post from the first lady since Mr Biden was declared winner of the 2020 election by networks and news agencies, signals her support for the president in his legal fight that lies ahead.

The campaign has filed at least seven lawsuits in battleground states since election day to challenge the ballot counts, Bloomberg reported.

Many of Mr Trump’s inner circle of family members have largely remained conspicuously quiet online for hours following the announcement.

The president himself continued to personally hit out on Twitter against supposed fraud and election meddling in swing states that he claims cost him his victory on Sunday morning.

The president used the platform to lash out further at the electoral process and promote continued baseless claims of election fraud by posting quotes attributed to Newt Gingrich and a legal analyst.

All six of the president’s tweets in the two threads were flagged within an hour of their publication by the platform. Four of the tweets show a warning which reads “this claim about election fraud is disputed” while the other two displayed: “Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure".

The president was playing golf as Mr Biden's victory in the US election was declared by the major news networks, prompting his campaign to immediately issue a statement in which the president stated the contest was "far from over".

“The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor,” the statement read.

“This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room — and then fight in court to block their access,” Mr Trump added. 

The Trump campaign has so far provided no definitive evidence of any voting irregularities.