Republicans react to Trump's election fraud claims

With his re-election chances fading as final votes are counted in several key states, U.S. President Donald Trump falsely claimed at the White House on Thursday (November 5) that the election was being 'stolen.'

"If you count legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us."

Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in votes lead to voter fraud.

And lambasting poll workers, Trump alleged fraud in states which are pushing Democratic opponent Joe Biden closer to victory.

"There have been a number of disturbing irregularities across the nation."

Shortly after, several top Republicans distanced themselves from Trump's election fraud claims.

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah wrote on Twitter that "Counting every vote is at the heart of democracy," while former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told CNN Trump's allegations were "very disappointing and shocking."

And one of President Trump's top allies, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, publicly rebuked him Thursday night, telling ABC Trump's allegations would "inflame without informing" and that he needs to "show us the evidence."

Tweeting shortly after Trump's White House appearance, Biden wrote that quote "No one is going to take our democracy away from us."

The former vice president is slowly eating away at Trump's leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia -- even as he maintains narrow leads in Nevada and Arizona.

Trump's campaign has pursued a flurry of lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Georgia as well as Nevada and Michigan, though judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly rejected the challenges.

But legal experts say the cases have little chance of affecting the outcome.