NICOLA Sturgeon has condemned Donald Trump’s bogus claim to have already won the US Presidential election as his opponents try to deny him victory by “fraud”.

The First Minister said the remarks had left her feeling “discomfort and foreboding” and called on sensible voices in American to “protect the integrity of democracy”.

When many early tallies showed him ahead in key swing states, President Trump also suggested vote counting should stop and the issue move to the Supreme Court.

In the house since he made his comments from the White House around 2am in Washington DC, his lead has shrunk or been reversed in some of those same swing states.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s campaign called the remarks outrageous.

Even Mr Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence said votes should still be counted.

At the 2016 US election, Ms Sturgeon openly supported Hilary Clinton against Republican Mr Trump, and later proved a frequent critic of his actions in office.

Asked at the daily briefing about the significance of the election for the global fight against coronavirus, Ms Sturgeon said: “The votes are still being counted.

“We’ll see what the outcome of the election is.

“I’m not going to go much further than that. Probably most people can guess which side I’d fall on in terms of what my preferred outcome of the election would be.

“But that’s not a matter for me. It’s a matter for the American people.

“I think what is most important right now is the integrity of American democracy.

“All votes should be counted. I think that is an important principle and the outcome of the election should be respected.

“I won’t be the only one who heard the President speak earlier this morning with a sense of discomfort and foreboding, and I hope sensible voices in America come to the fore in terms of the protection of the integrity of democracy, whatever the direction the final few state tallies take us in.”

President Trump’s record on the coronavirus in the US, where almost 9.5m people have been infected and more than 230,000 have died, was a key issue in the election.

Turning to the wider impact of the result, the First Minister went on: “The outcome of American elections matter to the whole world, although the whole world doesn’t have a say in them, and that is true on Covid.

“We want to see the world’s biggest democracy taking a responsible leadership role.

"It’s really important that whoever emerges the eventual winner from this that there is that real focus on making sure the virus is controlled and suppress in America, and in things like vaccines and technological developments America is playing a responsible role.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said of President Trump's remarks: "This is a deeply alarming development and will spark fears at home and abroad that Donald Trump is seeking to subvert democracy.

"Joe Biden is absolutely correct to say that it is not for any candidate to declare themselves as the winner, before the full democratic process has been completed.

"I extend my solidarity to those standing against this threat to the democracy."