FORMER PRESIDENT of Ireland Mary Robinson has hit out at US President Donald Trump over his refusal to concede defeat to Joe Biden in the US elections.
Trump has yet to acknowledge his Democrat rival’s victory, instead launching a series of legal challenges in several key swing states.
The President has also accused the Democrats of rigging the election, despite failing to produce any concrete evidence to support his baseless claims.
It has been two weeks since Biden was announced as the projected winner and there is now growing concern over not only the transfer of power but President Trump’s apparent attempt at undermining the incoming administration and sewing further seeds of division in the US.
Robinson is the latest major figure to express concern over goings-on across the Atlantic.
Speaking during an appearance on The Late Late Show, she hit out at Trump’s stubbornness and warned that his efforts were sending a dangerous message to democracies all over the world.
“It’s very serious because it’s undermining democracy, it’s setting a bad example,” Robinson said.
“We are often keen that those in countries that are not quite as strong in their democracy would cease and give up power if they have been thrown out by voters…it’s a problem in Africa…a few African countries where there may be resistance to it.
“To have a country that has promoted democracy around the world suffering from that is very serious.”
"Things have changed around here, make your own tea!" 👏🏻😂
Mary Robinson talks to Ryan about the importance of her election to the women of Ireland.#LateLate pic.twitter.com/xsBK3udIen— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) November 20, 2020
Robinson was recently appointed chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working closely together to promote peace, justice and human rights across the world.
She believes that the election of Biden is not only good news for Ireland but bodes well when it comes to tackling issues like climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Robinson said: “I welcome the election of president-elect Biden and also vice president-elect Kamala Harris, because clearly this is going to be an administration which will come back into the multilateral co-operation, rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, rejoin the World Health Organisation, rejoin the Human Rights Council hopefully, and so on.”
She also welcomed the arrival of Harris as America’s first female Vice President, recalling her own historic appointment as the first woman to be voted into Aras an Uachtarain.
"I watched her acceptance speech, and I think she absolutely knows what her position and her role is, and the way she said ‘I’m on the shoulders of so many women’ and she thanked them.
“She said ‘I may be the first, but I won’t be the last’. I hope girls looking now will take confidence… it resonated all around the world, especially a woman of colour, it was great.”
