Will never concede, says Trump before US Congress cements Biden win

Washington, Jan 06: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday that he would never concede that he lost the election, as Congress readied to certify Joe Biden's victory.

"We will never give up. We will never concede," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We will stop the steal."

"If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election," Trump told cheering supporters outside the White House. "He has the absolute right to do it. Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country."

Pence is set to preside over the US Senate on Wednesday as it receives the results of the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner of presidential elections.

Biden, a Democrat, beat Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College and in the popular vote by more than 7 million ballots. Trump, a Republicna, has not conceded the election, reiterating unverified claims that the November 3 presidential polls were rigged.

Dozens of lawsuits by his campaign challenging election results have failed in US courts.

"Vice President Mike Pence told President Trump on Tuesday that he did not believe he had the power to block congressional certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory in the presidential election despite Trump's baseless insistence that he did," the daily reported, citing unnamed people briefed on the conversation.

Trump, however, has decried the report as "fake news", asserting that Pence never told him what the report said.

"The New York Times report regarding comments Vice President Pence supposedly made to me today is fake news. He never said that. The Vice President and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act," Trump said in a statement issued by his campaign.

The November 3 election was corrupt in contested states, and in particular it was not in accordance with the Constitution in that they made large scale changes to election rules and regulations as dictated by local judges and politicians, not by state legislators. This means that it was illegal, Trump said.