White House Democratic wannabe Joe Biden was approaching a triumph in the U.S. presidential race on Thursday, as election officials counted votes in a handful of states that will determine the end result and the Republican president was betting on a demands strategy.
Biden, a former vice president of the United States, is reducing Trump’s advantage in Pennsylvania and Georgia while retaining reduced margins in his favor in Nevada and Arizona.
The tabulation of ballots continued in these crucial states two days after the polls closed, with supporters from both sides organizing demonstrations in major cities amid the vote count.
After a very rough campaign marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the election seemed to be moving towards a tense outcome in the coming hours and perhaps days.
There is still a chance that Trump will win if he stays with Georgia, where he leads by 12,800 votes, and Pennsylvania, where he is ahead by 108,600 votes, and beats Biden in Arizona, where he is 68,100 votes behind the Republican, or Nevada, where the opposition representative beats the representative by 11,400 votes.
But some of the remaining votes in Georgia and Pennsylvania are concentrated in areas expected to have Democratic bias, such as the Atlanta and Philadelphia areas.
Trump, who attacked the integrity of the U.S. electoral system during the campaign, alleged fraud without providing evidence, filed lawsuits, and accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election.
Indeed, this Thursday, in their first public appearance after Tuesday’s election, he continued with his theory: “Democratic officials never believed they could win this election, honestly, that’s really why they did mail ballots with this tremendous corruption.”
“If legal votes are counted, we win easily,” he added, without re-submitting evidence. It threatens that if this continues, it will take the election to the Supreme Court.
His campaign has filed several lawsuits in determining states and called for a recount in Wisconsin, although some legal experts said lawsuits probably won’t upset the outcome of the election.
In brief statements Thursday afternoon from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden again called for patience and called for all votes to be counted.
“We have no doubt that when the count is over, Senator Harris and I will be declared winners. That’s why I’m asking everyone to stay calm (…) The process is working,” Biden told reporters in reference to his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris.
A lot at stake
What is in dispute is whether to give Trump and his “America first” policies four more years in office after a tumultuous first term or turn to Biden, a figure who has been on the American political arena for half a century and promises to provide stability at home and repair alliances abroad.
One of the most unusual presidential races in modern American history was held amid a pandemic that has killed more than 234,000 Americans and left millions more out of work. Concern about the virus led to increased mail voting and laborious counting has helped slow the results.
To conquer the White House, a candidate must accumulate at least 270 electoral college votes handed over by states, which rely heavily on population level.
Most major television networks on Thursday gave Biden a 253-vote lead over Trump’s 214.
Biden also beat Trump by more than 3.7 million votes nationally, although this plays no role in determining the winner. Trump lost the popular vote by about $3 million to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, but won crucial states to unexpectedly reach the White House.
Trump is trying to avoid becoming the first U.S. president in practice to lose a re-election nomination since Republican George H.W. Bush did so in 1992.
The representative, accustomed to legal battles during his turbulent business career, was working in the White House on Thursday and following the events on television, according to two advisers. He’s spoken to state governors, as well as with friends and assistants, and has sent some of his closest advisers to fight votes for him on the ground.
Biden, meanwhile, has remained at his home in Delaware and has consulted with assistants, including his legal adviser Bob Bauer.
