TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Early Wednesday morning, embattled current United States President Donald Trump addressed a crowd in the East Wing of the White House, claiming he had won the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The only problem is, it wasn’t true.

And it still isn’t.

Votes are still being counted in battleground states, and mail-in and absentee ballots are stacked high due to the changes in voting protocol wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. But even if the coronavirus had never happened, elections have several times not been called on election night, particularly in cases of extremely close races or when a losing candidate refuses to concede. 

Trump’s words shouldn’t come as a surprise; earlier this week, he said he’d claim victory on election night if it looked like he was ahead in the polls, before later walking back his statements. It seems to be business as usual for a commander in chief with a documented record of fudging the facts.

But even some registered Republicans in the Tampa Bay area have an issue with the way the sitting president has handled this election.

“The problem with that is he is equivocating the counting of votes that were made within the parameters of the state's acceptance window with voting after the polls closed,” says Tampa resident Christopher Madalena in a message to Spectrum Bay News 9. “That is not what is happening, and is just another feather in his unpresidential behavior cap, which seems to be what a lot of folks are into.  

“I'm just pretty tired and disgusted with the way the GOP machine has used fear to control and endanger the populous. I think we are going to see this contested in the courts, where he has three huge favors waiting for him to cash in on.”

Republican Patrick Raftery also sees the president’s election night behavior as a logical extension of the way he’s handled four years in the white house:

“Typical untruths, exaggerations and destructive comments on an election still not decided,” Raftery wrote. “[I] Do not expect an apology for remarks that show he remains unfit to be our president. I am a 40-year Republican who knows he is the problem and Joe Biden is the only alternate solution.”

Kevin Hohl of St. Petersburg is another registered Republican who broke with his party to vote for Joe Biden this year. He also sees Trump’s posturing this morning as an expected continuation of the sitting president’s public style.

“His nonsense regarding early victory and alleging unconstitutional voting behavior is just another example of his poor leadership and desire to gain attention from his constituents,” he writes. “I did not vote for Trump because I feel his leadership style has divided us as a country. He has gotten some things accomplished, but what good is a successful company if all the employees hate each other?”

At press time, several pivotal states have not been called, and Joe Biden has a slight lead over President Trump in electoral votes. Only time will tell whether Trump stays in office, but, whatever he says, that time hasn’t come just yet.