Donald Trump says 'time will tell' who will occupy White House

13 November 2020, 21:54 | Updated: 13 November 2020, 22:40

Trump makes small reference to election result

Donald Trump has made his first speech since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, saying "time will tell" who will be President in January.

The President of the United States gave an update on Covid vaccine efforts on Friday, but did not directly mention the US election result.

His speech came minutes after it was announced that Joe Biden had won the state of Georgia, making him the first Democrat to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.

The victory gives the President-elect, who was declared the winner of the election on November 7, 306 electoral votes - the same number as President Donald Trump won in 2016, which he declared a "landslide."

Mr Trump won North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes after staving off a hard-fought challenge by Mr Biden.

Speaking at the press conference, Mr Trump said: "The past nine months my administration has initiated the single greatest mobilisation in us history, numbers like nobody has ever seen before.

"No medical breakthrough has ever been achieved this quickly, this rapidly.

"Operation Warp Speed is unequaled and unrivalled anywhere in the world."

Last week, drug giant Pfizer announced breakthrough results of its vaccine candidate, which showed 90% effectiveness against the virus, according to early analysis.

Pfizer did not receive Operation Warp Speed funding for research, but did sign an agreement for distribution of doses through the programme.

During the press conference, Mr Trump again referred to Covid-19 as the 'China virus'.

He continued: "Case levels are high, but part of the reason case levels are high is that we have the best test program anywhere in the world."

He said an upcoming vaccine rollout would "effectively end this phase of the pandemic" and added that it would "allow seniors to reclaim the golden years of their lives, and its about time they can have those golden years."

Mr Trump also took the opportunity to verbally attacked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, after Cuomo said he would insist on having any vaccine independently verified before distributing it to his state.

He also vowed not to impose a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, after a Biden adviser said it may be the only option to tackle Covid.

Mr Trump said: "This administration will not go to a lock down…who knows which administration it will be, time will tell."

The president then said: "The cure cannot be worse than the disease."

Joe Biden: I'm telling world leaders that America is back

Earlier on Friday, President-elect Joe Biden repeated his calls for Americans to adhere to mask wearing, handwashing and social distancing.

In a statement, Mr Biden said he had spoken to the co-chairs of his transition Advisory Board for the pandemic and reported that the "facts they presented were alarming."

"This crisis demands a robust and immediate federal response, which has been woefully lacking," he said.

"Urgent action is needed today, now, by the current administration - starting with an acknowledgment of how serious the current situation is."

He also noted that it would be "many months" before any vaccine will be available for widespread use.

The US has seen record numbers of daily coronavirus infections over the past week.

More than 10.6 million cases have been reported since the pandemic began, and 243,000 people have died in the country.