Republicans hit out at Donald Trump over baseless election fraud claims as one says: ‘This is getting insane’

Watch: Republicans react to Trump's election fraud claims

A growing number of Republicans were distancing themselves from Donald Trump on Friday following his latest attempt to claim victory in the US election – with one accusing him of launching “insane” attacks.

The President doubled-down on his previous allegations made on election night that the vote was corrupt in a fiery statement delivered in the White House on Thursday night.

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he falsely claimed. Hundreds of thousands of votes remain to be counted and Joe Biden is leading in electoral college votes that determine who becomes president.

"This is a case where they're trying to steal an election. They're trying to rig an election, and we can't let that happen,” he said.

Mr Trump has not presented any evidence to back up his wild claims and state officials have not flagged any instances of widespread voter fraud.

Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted that the president's claims of fraud were "getting insane". If Mr Trump had "legit" concerns about fraud they needed to be based on evidence and taken to court, Mr Kinzinger said, adding: "STOP Spreading debunked misinformation".

Earlier he commented more forcefully on Mr Trump's claim Democrats were trying to "steal" the election, tweeting: "Stop. Full stop." "The votes will be counted and you will either win or lose," Mr Kinzinger told Mr Trump. "And America will accept that. Patience is a virtue."

Maryland's Republican governor Larry Hogan, a potential 2024 presidential hopeful who has often criticised Mr Trump, said unequivocally: "There is no defence for the President's comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before."

"No election or person is more important than our Democracy," Mr Hogan said on Twitter.

Other criticism, though less direct, came from members of Congress. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who spoke at a recent Trump campaign rally, said in a tweet that if any candidate believes "a state is violating election laws they have a right to challenge it in court & produce evidence in support of their claims".

Mr Rubio said earlier: "Taking days to count legally cast votes is NOT fraud. And court challenges to votes cast after the legal voting deadline is NOT suppression."

Retired Republican senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, was more direct: "No Republican should be okay with the President's statements just now. Unacceptable. Period."

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Trump ally who is an analyst for ABC News, said there was no basis for Mr Trump's argument. Mr Christie called Mr Trump's attack on the integrity of the election "a bad strategic decision" and "a bad political decision, and it's not the kind of decision you would expect someone to make ... who holds the position he holds".

However several GOP figures came out in support for Mr Trump over his comments – as did his family, who took to Twitter to question why Republican politicians were not rushing to the president's defence.

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"Where are Republicans! Have some backbone. Fight against this fraud. Our voters will never forget you if your (sic) sheep!" Mr Trump's son Eric tweeted. Meanwhile Mr Trump's eldest son Don Jr accused the party of being "weak".

Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Mr Trump's leading congressional supporters, said on Fox News on Thursday night he would donate 500,000 dollars (£380,000) to the president's "legal defence fund" and urged people to go to the Trump campaign's website to pitch in.

Florida's Republican governor Ron DeSantis urged the president to "Fight on, exhaust all options", while South Dakota governor Kristi Noem tweeted that Mr Trump was fighting "rigged election systems".