DONALD Trump's claims of being "robbed" of the election victory is "total nonsense" and "no surprise at all", Hunter academics say.
Dr Kit Candlin, a senior lecturer in American history at the University of Newcastle, said although comments from Trump and his camp over the past two days casting doubt on the voting process were "unprecedented" in American politics, they came as little surprise.
He said they were likely prompted by a "lack of belief that they're going to win".
"He thinks he is going to lose," Mr Candlin said.
"But I think there's also a sense that he is speaking to his base that are so disenfranchised from the political system that they actually want to see someone up there as a wrecking-candidate.
"He gets a lot of strength in his sales from wrecking the system.
"Characters like Trump thrive off discord. They don't want a safe, organised system at all. He has been setting the groundwork for this for months. It's a longstanding strategy, this kind of casting doubt on the system. He thrives in the chaos."
Trump yesterday claimed he had won the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan well before all the votes had been counted. Biden later proved the winner of Michigan.
Trump's camp launched legal action in multiple states to pause counting and demand access to the counting of postal votes.
His lawyer, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, said the postal votes "could be from Mars" and that "Joe Biden could have voted 50 times as far as we know".
Trump's son Eric accused the Biden campaign of "rampant corruption".
Professor Jim Jose, a political scientist with the UON, was unsurprised by Trump and his camp's legal threats.
"He is a person who never loses, even when he loses," Mr Jose said.
"In his own head, he is a permanent winner, permanently right and a permanent expert. That's just part of his personality.
"This is typical behaviour ... we've watched him do this on numerous occasions."
Mr Jose said Trump's rhetoric had the potential to incite conflict and would further erode the public's trust in the democratic process.
"It signals to his supporters that they've been robbed, and then fires up their passions," he said.
"Many of them will not go past the blanket statement he makes and dig any deeper or check for themselves.
"That sets up a potential dynamic for confrontation - a scenario where mayhem and disorder may go a bit rampant."
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