Former United States ambassador to New Zealand Mark Gilbert says Donald Trump's calls for vote counting to stop in some districts and continue in others has "no basis in law", calling it a "cynical" move.
Gilbert was the ambassador to New Zealand for two years from 2015 to 2017 under former president Barack Obama, and is also a former Major League Baseball player.
Speaking this morning to TVNZ1's Breakfast, Gilbert reacted to Trump's calls for vote counting to be halted in some states, but continued in others.
"It's very cynical where in the states where he's up, and knows the mail in ballots could cost him the election, he's saying stop the counting
“There’s not a great deal of logic behind that message,” TVNZ’s Q+A host said of Trump supporters calling for a stop to vote counting in states where Biden currently leads. (Source: Other)
"In the states where he's behind, he wants the counting to continue.
"Actually, when he announced last night and said, 'I want everything to stop,' he would have lost the election by that.
"It's something that has no basis in law, no basis in fact - these are all ballots that were cast prior to election day or on election day and we've always counted all those ballots."
Gilbert said he was confident that Joe Biden would be the next president of the United States, and that he would work to bring together both sides of the political spectrum.
"Joe Biden's a very thoughtful, I would say centrist politician, who's been around for a very long time," he said.
"He's made a name by working across the aisle and has built great relationships with people from all parties.
Some protestors are calling to stop the vote count, while others want all the votes to be counted, 1 NEWS’ Anna Burns-Francis reports from Washington, DC. (Source: Other)
"There were a lot of Democrats who criticised Joe Biden when he said nice things about Republicans but, as he's always said, if somebody does something good you should compliment them.
"He's built relationships that, I think, will come in handy when he becomes the next president of the United States.
It’s still too close to call a winner between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in six states. (Source: Other)
"He wants to build back better what we've been doing here in the United States.
"One of the things I believe he will do, and one of the reasons I admire him and have supported him, is that he will reach across to everyone - the people who didn't vote for him, the people who called him a socialist, the people who said he should never be president. He will work with everyone to make America a better country."
Scott Brown says New Zealand’s relationship with the US remains good, but it’s time for him to move closer to his family. (Source: Other)
New Zealand's outgoing ambassador from the United States, former Republican senator Scott Brown, appeared on Breakfast yesterday to discuss the US election . While appointed by Trump to the role, Brown was careful to distance himself from the sitting president's statements that not all votes should be counted.
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