US President-elect Trump says vote recount bids are 'scam'

WASHINGTON - US President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's request for a vote recount is "scam."

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused," Trump said in a statement.

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall......to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount," Trumps said.

Stein filed for vote recount in the state of Wisconsin Friday, and promised to ask for the same in Michigan and Pennsylvania next week.

Trump won all three states by a narrow margin in the presidential election, leading his major rival Democrat Hillary Clinton with just over 100,000 votes in all three states.

Clinton's campaign said earlier Saturday that it will join Stein's effort to make sure the vote count is "fair to all sides."

Stein won approximately one percent of the vote in each of the three states, but local media has reported that she raised over five million US dollars to finance her recount bid, which is 3.5 million dollars more than what she raised for her presidential campaign.

Trump announced victory in the presidential election on Nov 9, after upsetting rival Clinton in several key states that were traditionally viewed as blue states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The result sparked anger among thousands of Clinton supporters who staged mass protests across the country, and called for recounts.