IN a rage at losing the election, President Donald Trump has been lashing out at states and individuals he accuses of “stealing” a victory from him.

Yesterday, after days of screaming foul play, Trump came up against a fellow Republican who gave the president a very polite tongue-lashing that was being seen nationwide as a deserved rebuke.

Though the Trump campaign pulled out of a lawsuit in Nevada, where the state has allowed the Republican Party more access to the remaining counts in Clark County, the Trump managers also filed suits in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania, all alleging one kind or other of voter fraud.

Trump won one concession in Georgia where there will now be a recount by hand of all ballots, a process that could take weeks. The state, however, has defended its procedures as robust and no substantial evidence of electoral fraud has been produced there, or anywhere, by the Trump campaign or Trump aides.

President-elect Joe Biden has refused to enter into a shouting match with Trump over the ballot issues, though he did say it was an “embarrassment”. But a senior Republican in Pennsylvania was more than a little ticked off with his party’s leader.

Trump tweeted: “A guy named Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia commissioner and so-called Republican (RINO), is being used big time by the fake news media to explain how honest things were with respect to the election in Philadelphia. He refuses to look at a mountain of corruption and dishonesty. We win!”

Unfortunately for Trump, Schmidt is the Republican that the Republicans credit with cleaning up the ballot process in the state.

Schmidt said on CNN yesterday: “I have seen the most fantastical things on social media, that have no basis in reality at all.”

In a clear dig at Trump, Schmidt said: “We just had the most transparent and secure election in the history of Philadelphia. And the people here work night and day to do our job, and count those votes.

“One thing I can’t comprehend is how hungry people are to consume lies, and to consume information that is not true.”