German foreign minister: Trump’s fraud claims ‘pour oil on the fire’

 

German foreign minister: Trump’s fraud claims ‘pour oil on the fire’

 

‘Decent losers are more important for the functioning of a democracy than radiant winners,’ Heiko Maas said.

 

BY LAURENZ GEHRKE

November 6, 2020 9:00 am

https://www.politico.eu/article/german-foreign-minister-accuses-trump-of-stoking-discord/

 

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and called for calm as the vote count continues in crucial battleground states.

 

“Anyone who continues to pour oil on the fire in a situation like this is acting irresponsibly,” Maas said in an interview with Germany’s Funke media group as Democratic nominee Joe Biden gained momentum — prompting Trump to allege voter fraud and declare premature victory.

 

“Now is the time to keep a cool head until an independently determined result is available,” Maas said, adding that the U.S. is not a “one-man show [and] decent losers are more important for the functioning of a democracy than radiant winners.”

 

On Thursday evening during a press conference at the White House, Trump reiterated the election fraud claims he had been sharing via Twitter for hours.

 

“There’s been a lot of shenanigans and we can’t stand for that in our country,” Trump said, offering no evidence for his claims of large-scale fraud. He added that he would like to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

In his interview, Maas said he was hopeful that after the election result, “the West plays as a team again.” He said good relations with the U.S. are important and the country should rejoin the World Health Organization as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world.

 

Referring to Biden’s statement that if he wins, the U.S. would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, Maas said: “To have the country with the second-largest emissions on board would be very, very important.”