US Election live updates: Joe Biden declares ‘we are going to win’ as lead over Donald Trump expands
Joe Biden has all but declared victory in the presidential race, despite a continuing court battle over late counting in Pennsylvania.
- Georgia to decide who controls Senate
- Trump Chief of Staff tests positive
- Biden: We are going to win
- Pennsylvania lead passes 27,000
- Trump sons cane Republicans
- Biden ‘reluctant to declare premature victory’
- Biden expands lead in Georgia
Welcome to live coverage of the 2020 US Election battle. Joe Biden has all but declared victory in an address to the nation his lead in Pennsylvania nears 29,000. Mr Biden is on the verge of victory after also taking the lead over Donald Trump in Georgia. If the results hold it would comfortably deliver him the presidency. Mr Trump has doubled down on his claims of corruption as it’s revealed he could be escorted from the White House.
Agencies 5.50pm: Full court to consider a Pennsylvania challenge
The full US Supreme Court will tomorrow consider a halt to counting more ballots in Pennsylvania, after Justice Samuel Alito denied a request by Pennsylvania’s Republicans to immediately halt the counting of ballots arriving after election day.
Any response from the court will be watched for any revealed attitudes to the counting and to any issues arising from the widely expected transition of power, and whether new judge Amy Coney Barrett, confirmed over Democratic Party objections, joins in deliberations.
Justice Alito referred the challenge to the full court to consider on Saturday US time.
He ordered Pennsylvania on Friday US time to continue keeping the late-arriving ballots separate, affirming a decision already made by the state’s top elections official Kathy Boockvar, who told CNN they were unlikely to affect the outcome in any case.
The last-ditch petition for an emergency injunction — filed as Democrat Joe Biden solidified his lead and was poised to defeat President Donald Trump — targeted thousands of ballots.
Most are believed to favour Mr Biden, and Republicans say they should be disqualified under Pennsylvania state law.
As a first step, the party wanted the high court to order ballots arriving after 8pm on election night to be kept apart from others and prevent them from being tallied.
The concern is that if they are mixed with other ballots, it would render any attempt to disqualify them impossible.
Republicans have for months been fighting a state decision to accept mail-in ballots postmarked by November 3 and arriving by Friday.
Previously the deadline for acceptance was Election Day itself.
The state supreme court ruled the decision legal and it was then appealed in the federal system.
On October 19 the US Supreme Court, which had a vacant seat, let the state court’s decision stand in 4-4 split decision along conservative-liberal lines.
But the high court indicated it could take up the case after the election, and now has nine members after the Trump-nominated conservative Justice Barrett joined in late October.
Mr Trump has explicitly said he wanted Justice Barrett on the court for any election-related case.
Friday’s petition appeared more broadly aimed at delaying the eastern state’s vote tally from being finalised, which would effectively hand the election to Mr Biden.
A delay could give the high court time to reopen the broader case of the legality of the late ballots.
Even if the court does issue a stay on counting, it might not make a difference to the result for Mr Biden.
AFP
READ EARLIER: Judge orders Pennsylvania ballots segregated
Anne Barrowclough 4.35pm: Where the remaining states stand now
Counting has finished for the night in Pennsylvania, so there will be no confirmation of results tonight (AEDT).
.@TomLlamasABC updates on where we stand on ballots still being counted and votes remaining from the key battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.#Election2020https://t.co/FWZf5KYHIc pic.twitter.com/5Jjf0T7QI3
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 7, 2020
The latest results are:
PENNSYLVANIA:
Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump by 28,833 votes with 99 per cent of the vote counted. This lead is almost insurmountable and with the state’s 20 electoral college votes will get Mr Biden over the threshold to win the White House if the final ballot counts go his way.
GEORGIA:
Joe Biden is leading by 4,395 votes with 99 per cent of the vote counted.
However, as this lead is just 0.8 per cent, there will almost certainly be a recount. A recount can be initiated if the margin is under 1 per cent.
NEVADA:
Joe Biden is leading here by 22,657 votes with 87 per cent of the vote complete. With six electoral college votes, Nevada would get Mr Biden over the line if he continues to hold Arizona but the tally here is very slow so we don’t know when we will get complete results.
AP EXPLAINS: Government officials in Nevada say they are emphasizing accuracy over speed in a year when processing a flood of mail-in ballots under extended deadlines is simply a lengthy process.https://t.co/bklBKZpHcc
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 6, 2020
ARIZONA:
Joe Biden is leading by 29,861 votes with 90 per cent of the count complete. Donald Trump is eating into this margin but not as much as his team had expected, and it is unlikely that he will now be able to catch up to his rival. He needs close to 60 per cent of all remaining ballots for the state to swing his way and has only got 53 per cent of votes in the most recent batches from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, which includes Phoenix.
NORTH CAROLINA:
Donald Trump is leading by 76,000 votes with 99 per cent of the vote complete. This state is not expected to complete counting until Tuesday but Mr Trump is expected to hold it. It won’t be enough to get him back into the White House, though, unless all the other states flip red, which is highly unlikely.
Cameron Stewart 4.10pm: Biden’s message of unity
Joe Biden has told Americans that he expects to be the country’s next president and that it is time to end partisan warfare and heal a divided nation.
In a short presidential-style address in Wilmington, Delaware, the former vice president chose not to formally declare victory despite favourable vote counting that makes it all but certain that he will win the election.
In a clear reference to Donald Trump, he said he would not let anyone try to interfere in the democratic process of this election.
“We need to remain calm. Patient. And let the process work out as we count all the votes. Democracy works. Your vote will be counted. I don’t care how hard people try to stop it. I will not let it happen,’ he said.
Mr Biden said that it was clear with the vote counting trends in undecided states that he would win the election.
“We don’t have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers tell a clear and convincing story - we are going to win this race,” he said.
“We are going to win this race with a clear majority of the nation behind us.”
At a time when Mr Trump is alleging widespread fraud in the election, Mr Biden called for greater unity.
‘The purpose of our politics, the work of the nation, isn’t to fan the flames of conflict but to solve problems,’ he said.
“No matter who you voted for, I’m certain of one thing. The vast majority want to get rid of the vitriol out of our politics. Were certainly not going to agree on a lot of the issues - but we can at least be civil to one another.’
“My responsibility as president will be to represent the whole nation. And I want you to know that I will work as hard for those who voted against me as for those who voted for me.’
“We don’t have any more time to waste on partisan warfare.’
Mr Biden spoke of the suffering of so many people with the surging coronavirus and the crushed economy.
“Daily cases are skyrocketing, and it is now believed that we could see spikes as high as 200,000 cases in a single day,’ he says.
“I want everyone to know that on Day One, we are going to put our plan to control this virus into action.’
“More than 20 million people are on unemployment. Millions are worried about making rent and putting food on the table. Our economic plan will put a focus on a path to a strong recovery,’ he said.
Agencies 3.35pm: Georgia to decide who controls Senate
Georgia is to hold two runoffs on January 5 to settle which party will control the Senate, with the results not expected until January.
Earlier today Democrat Jon Ossoff and Georgia Senator David Perdue narrowly advanced to a second round after three days of vote counting. Georgia law requires an outright majority to win a statewide office.
The second race, a special election to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Johnny Isakson, will require a run-off between Raphael Warnock and Senator Kelly Loeffler, the Republican appointed to the post last year after Mr Isakson retired.
Should Democrats win the seats, Joe Biden will have a majority in the Senate, increasing his chances for passing legislation and securing major appointment confirmations.
Otherwise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, could wield the power to block Mr Biden.
Other races in North Carolina and Alaska also hold the potential to reshape the balance of power, but Georgia offers the more likely prospect.
In Georgia, two run-off elections mean a campaign on an almost national scale, with tens of millions of dollars spent by both sides.
Mr Biden has been silent on the Senate balance as he awaits the results in his own election, but he offered a preview days before Tuesday’s election.
“I can’t tell you how important it is that we flip the United States Senate. There’s no state more consequential than Georgia in that fight,” Mr Biden declared at an Atlanta rally on October 27, when he campaigned alongside Democratic Senate hopefuls Ms Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Nationally, the Senate stands at 48-48 after Election Day. But incumbent Republicans lead uncalled races in Alaska and North Carolina, and if the GOP holds those two seats it would be up 50-48. Wins by the Georgia Democrats would create a 50-50 tie.
In that case, whichever party wins the White House would control the Senate, since the vice president serves as president of the Senate and would break any ties.
Both sides promised unlimited funds would flow to the campaigns and onto the airwaves, and they predicted an all-star cast of campaigners for a state that in recent weeks drew visits from Mr Biden, Mr Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.
Anne Barrowclough 3.15pm: Trump Chief of Staff tests positive
Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has tested positive with coronavirus.
Mr Meadows, 61, who has frequently been filmed refusing to wear a mask at public events during the pandemic, was confirmed to have caught the virus this afternoon (AEDT). He was by Mr Trump’s side when the president was hospitalised with coronavirus and has been working closely with Mr Trump on how to negotiate the election results.
He recently admitted: “We’re not going to control this pandemic.”
White House aides told CNN it wasn’t clear when Mr Meadows had tested positive but he had travelled with Mr Trump on Sunday and Monday.
He was also at the White House election party on Tuesday and came into close contact with members of Mr Trump’s family.
White House officials are now alarmed given Mr Meadows has been around other staffers while potentially contagious, one aide told CNN.
Mr Meadows will now have to go into quarantine, as will all those who have been in direct contact with him.
Emily Ritchie 2.55pm: ‘We are going to win this race’
Joe Biden has all but declared victory in the presidential race, saying the numbers tell a “very convincing story” that he “will win this race” and that he has already started preparing to take over the government of the United States.
Overnight the Democratic presidential candidate gained leads in key battleground states, including Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
“We’re going to win this race, a clear majority with the nation behind us,” former Vice President Biden said.
“We are on track to have over 300 electoral college votes. Look at the national numbers. We have gotten over 74 million votes. I’m going to repeat that, 74 million votes. That is more than any presidential ticket has ever gotten in the history of the United States of America.”
Speaking from his hometown of Wilmington in Delaware on Saturday afternoon AEDT, Mr Biden urged the population to remain calm and put their anger behind them - saying strong disagreements were “healthy”.
“Strong disagreements are inevitable in a democracy,” Mr Biden said.
“Strong disagreements are healthy. They are a sign of a vigorous debate of deeply held views but we have to remember, the purpose of our politics isn’t total unrelenting warfare. No, the purpose of our politics, the work of the nation isn’t to fan the flames of conflict but to solve problems. To guarantee justice, to give everybody a fair shot and improve the lives of our people. We may be opponents but we are not enemies, we are Americans.”
He said he and his running mate Kamala Harris had already “started the process” of transitional government, meeting with health and economic experts about how they might lead the country through the coronavirus pandemic.
“My responsibility as president will be to represent the whole nation and I want you to know that I will work as hard for those who voted against me as those who voted for me,” Biden said. “That is the job.”
Mr Biden declared he had rebuilt the “blue wall” in the middle of the nation, and urged patience as all votes are counted in the democratic process.
“We’re going to be the first Democrat to win in Arizona in 24 years, we’re going to be the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years, and we have rebuilt the blue wall in the middle of the country that crumbled just years ago,” Biden said.
“Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, the heartland of this nation. I know watching these vote tallies on TV moves very slow and is as low as it goes, it can be numbing. But never forget, the tallies are not just numbers, they represent votes and voters. Men and women who exercise their fundamental rights to have their voice heard.”
Anne Barrowclough 2.40pm: Biden Pennsylvania lead nears 29,000
Joe Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania has now grown to nearly 29,000. The latest count of 3212 ballots from Allegheny County in Pennsylvania gave Mr Biden 2436 votes and Mr Trump 733. The net gain for Mr Biden of 1763 gives him a lead of 28,833.
Anne Barrowclough 2.25pm: Trump admits ‘math may not add up’
Donald Trump is reportedly on “an emotional rollercoaster” as the latest vote counts show Mr Biden moving further toward the presidency. White House aides told CBS News that the president “has started telling those close to him that the math may not add up for him.”
However publicly he remains intransigent, tweeting a quote from Fox commentator Matthew Whitaker: “We need an explanation as to how these numbers have been running up.”
“We need an explanation as to how these numbers have been running up for the last two or three days.†Matthew Whitaker. @EveningEdit
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
Mr Trump’s aides have admitted to Politico the election is all but lost. One senior campaign official told the website: “Barring any major cases of voter fraud or something drastic, this is over, and it’s been over for a day. Most people are aware. Some folks are taking a bit longer to accept it. There are a lot of people just sitting and staring at their desks.”
Another campaign adviser admitted a court battle was unlikely “to swing things” in Mr Trump’s favour but could form the basis of his eventual concession, which would not conform to tradition.
“He’s going to say, ‘They stole it from me,’ and then he’s going to go to Florida and continue to be the most influential Republican in the country,” said the campaign adviser.
Mr Trump is eating into Mr Biden’s lead in Arizona but he needs close to 60 per cent of all remaining ballots to go his way and has only got 53 per cent of votes in the most recent batches from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, which includes Phoenix.
In total, there are still 69,000 votes to be counted across Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Arizona.
Charlie Mitchell 1.50pm: US officials despair as infections and deaths surge
Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is escalating rapidly in the US, with deaths and hospital admissions spiralling and new daily infections at record levels.
.@MarthaRaddatz on COVID-19: "I think we as a nation have forgotten how serious this is...remember those times in NYC? -- cheering at night for our health care workers. They're still on the job. They're still dealing with this every day." https://t.co/GwwRl4EUb3 pic.twitter.com/x4V4QioMP8
— ABC News (@ABC) November 7, 2020
Against the backdrop of a bitter election, which has led to millions of Americans queuing at polling stations and attending rallies, the pandemic has taken a back seat. Election exit polls revealed voters were more concerned about the economy than the virus, perhaps helping President Trump to exceed polling expectations.
According to the Associated Press, 93 per cent of US counties with the highest rate of new infections voted for Mr Trump.
There were 121,888 new cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, up from 102,831 the previous day. The figures are slightly higher than those provided by the World Health Organisation due to differing collation methods.
In the past week, America has confirmed more than 650,000 cases, more than Germany’s entire total since the onset of the pandemic, and this has forced state governors to plead with citizens to take the virus more seriously. Daily deaths reached 1,210 on Thursday, bringing the total death toll in America to 235,347.
Anne Barrowclough 1.40pm: Biden’s Pennsylvania lead passes 27,000
Joe Biden’s lead has grown again in Pennsylvania as Allegheny county releases more votes. The latest dump of 9258 votes gives Mr Biden 7300 votes and Donald Trump 1875, increasing Mr Biden’s lead to 27,130. These votes include military ballots.
The question now it is even possible for Mr Trump to catch up to his rival.
Mr Biden is also ahead by 4020 in Georgia and by 22,657 in Nevada and has become the first presidential candidate in history to pass 75 million votes, according to the Cook Political Report vote tracker.
In Arizona, Mr Trump is still narrowing the gap but Mr Biden’s lead is at 29,861. Mr Trump won 53 per cent of the nearly 72,000 ballots Arizona counted today, short of what he needs to overtake Joe Biden in the state.
Mr. Trump needs close to 60 per cent of all remaining ballots counted but has fallen short in the two most recent batches from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, which includes Phoenix.
The next batch of ballots from Maricopa County is expected Sunday (AEDT).
The county has 72,000 ballots left to tabulate. Rural counties have been releasing smaller batches throughout the day.
Anne Barrowclough 1.00pm: Trump sons cane GOP: ‘Get some backbone’
Donald Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have caned well-known Republicans and GOP officials for not being more vocal in their defence of their father in his claims of election fraud.
Although there is no evidence to back Mr Trump’s claims, his team have been re-tweeting them.
Eric Trump told Republicans to “have some backbone” and “fight against this fraud.”
Where are Republicans! Have some backbone. Fight against this fraud. Our voters will never forget you if your sheep! https://t.co/jLzOIJbrwV
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 5, 2020
“Our voters will never forget you if your (sic) sheep!” he tweeted.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: “The total lack of action from virtually all of the ‘2024 GOP hopefuls’ is pretty amazing”.
The total lack of action from virtually all of the “2024 GOP hopefuls†is pretty amazing.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 5, 2020
They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead.
Don’t worry @realDonaldTrump will fight & they can watch as usual!
“They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead.”
When America sees everything we are uncovering they will be disgusted and even the media won’t be able to pretend voter fraud isn’t real.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 6, 2020
Ending this crap once and for all will be fundamental to preserving our republic and faith in democracy.
He also tweeted that “no one is surprised by” the silence from Senator Lindsey Graham, although Mr Graham has backed Mr Trump’s claims. He also went onto Fox TV’s Hannity show to “stand with President Trump.”
Later, when it emerged that Mr Graham had donated $500,000 to Mr Trump’s legal defence team, Eric Trump tweeted “Graham is a good man.”
Cameron Stewart 12.35pm: Biden reluctant to claim premature victory
Joe Biden delayed plans for an address to the nation, because he was reportedly reluctant to claim victory in the election before a major US news network does.
In Wilmington, Delaware, a drive-in celebration is planned with cars already waiting and fireworks planned.
But the slow nature of the count means that no major network has yet called the election in favour of Mr Biden despite the increasing impossibility of a Donald Trump comeback. The Biden camp has not said officially if or when he will speak, although an aide told CBS he was planning an “enthusiastic update.”
The president, who alleges that the vote count is mired in fraud and corruption, said it would be wrong for the former vice president to claim victory.
“Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the president. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just beginning,’ he tweeted.
Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
“I had such a big lead in all of these states late into election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward.!’
His comments came after Mr Biden moved closer to an election-winning lead over Mr Trump.
Mr Biden now leads Mr Trump in both Georgia and Pennsylvania, with the remaining mail-in votes favouring Mr Biden over the president. He has also slightly increased his lead over Mr Trump in Nevada.
In Pennsylvania, Mr Biden leads by 49.5 per cent to 49.3 per cent with 95 per cent of the vote counted.
In Georgia Mr Biden leads by 49.4 per cent to 49.3 per cent with 99 per cent of votes counted.
But election officials announced there was likely to be a recount in Georgia because the count was so close. There are still up to 8,900 military ballots to be counted in the state from soldiers overseas.
Mr Trump suggested in a tweet that there was something suspicious about this.
Where are the missing military ballots in Georgia? What happened to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
“Where are the missing military ballots in Georgia? What happened to them,’ he wrote.
In Nevada Mr Biden leads by 49.8 per cent 48 per cent with 92 per cent of votes counted and in Arizona Mr Biden leads by 49.9 per cent to 48.6 per cent with 93 per cent of votes counted.
Republicans continued to make fresh legal moves to challenge the results which Mr Trump has alleged have been rugged by corrupt election officials in Democrat-run states.
Republicans in Pennsylvania asked the US Supreme Court to ensure that county election officials were separating mail ballots received after Election Day. Election officials in the state say they are already separating those votes from others. Mr Trump has alleged falsely that any votes counted after Election Day are illegal votes.
Lin Wood: "I saw President @realDonaldTrump building up what I believed was going to be almost a historic landslide victory, and then all of a sudden every network, including @FoxNews...started lying to the American public." pic.twitter.com/H8UWqzZTki
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) November 6, 2020
If current voting trends continue Mr Biden will be the country’s 46th president unless Mr Trump can persuade a court that the results of the election should be ruled invalid.
Donald Trump has become increasingly isolated after he desperately claimed on Friday (AEDT) the election result was “corrupt.”
Facing defeat, Mr Trump accused the Democrats of orchestrating a massive fraud by systematically rigging the vote to ensure a victory for Mr Biden — claims for which he did not provide evidence, inflaming Republican tensions.
Mr Biden’s comeback was driven largely by the late counting of mail-in votes, which had tilted significantly in favour of Mr Biden in the key swing states.
A furious Mr Trump accused Democrats of rigging the count, during an extraordinary White House briefing in which he offered no evidence to substantiate his claims.
“They are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election and we can’t let that happen,” Mr Trump said.
“We will not allow the corruption to steal such an important election — we can’t allow anyone to silence our voters.”
Mr Trump cited a litany of false allegations about Republican election observers being kept away from the count and mysterious ballot boxes appearing in the dead of night full of Biden votes.
He claimed mail-in votes were being counted without postmarks or names attached to them.
The three largest television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — all cut away from Mr Trump’s appearance as he continued to make allegations about the integrity of the election. Mr Trump did not offer any proof to back up his claims but said he would ask the courts to adjudicate.
Anne Barrowclough 12.20pm: Judge orders Pennsylvania ballots segregated
A Pennsylvania judge has ordered Pennsylvania election officials to segregate ballots received between November 4 and November 6 and count them separately, after a request from the state’s Republican Party.
Judge Samuel Alito also referred the issue to the full court.
In his brief order, Mr Alito said the court “was not informed that the guidance issued on October 28, which had an important bearing on the question whether to order special treatment of the ballots in question, had been modified.”
Greg Sheridan 12.15pm: Trump’s legacy will endure
Donald Trump has transformed America. The election is gone, Trump is still there. At time of writing, the odds favour Joe Biden getting across the line. Trump’s huge vote and Republican advances in congress could be seen as a moral victory. But Trump is not remotely interested in moral victories.
So he came out with a speech of characteristic bombast and dishonesty, claiming without evidence that voter fraud was responsible for every close result where he was going backwards.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” Trump said. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to illegally steal the election.”
Trump presumably includes Georgia, which is a Republican state with a Republican governor, secretary of state (who supervises elections) and legislature.
Everyone’s calculations got thrown out this election because people who voted on polling day voted Trump, while those who voted by mail-in ballot voted Biden. Therefore in some states Trump had leads of hundreds of thousands, which withered when the mail votes were counted.
READ the full story
Anne Barrowclough 12.05pm: Biden to speak soon
Joe Biden will address the nation today, despite earlier uncertainty over whether he would appear in public, US media reports.
Aides had thought Mr Biden would be making a victory speech, presuming he would have got over the 270 vote threshold to win the White House by now. But as it became clear the result would not be declared this morning (AEDT), they were unsure if he should speak at all.
Now, however, an aide told CBS Mr Biden would speak “not to declare victory but to give the kind of update he’s done previously — with even more enthusiasm. Last time he was before the press he trailed in Georgia, he trailed in Pennsylvania, he had a single digit lead in Nevada. But now, with Biden holding the advantage in those states, Biden plans to tout more progress.”
I spent the afternoon attending briefings on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the state of the economy. Tune in as I provide an update on these briefings and efforts to count every vote. pic.twitter.com/duoDWfzf5C
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020
Mr Biden last spoke yesterday, with a message of unity before Mr Trump went before the cameras falsely claiming the Democrats had acted corruptly in the election count.
Staff writers 11.50am: Trump legal fund will also pay down debt
Donald Trump is racing to raise money for an “official election defence fund.” But the fine print on the solicitations tells a different story: Half — or more — of any contribution will be used to retire debt from his re-election campaign, the Wall St Journal reports.
With Joe Biden pulling further ahead in several battleground states as the vote count continues, the Trump campaign is filing lawsuits in at least four states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania.
If you count the LEGAL votes, we easily win the Election. If you count the ILLEGAL and LATE votes, the Radical Left can steal this Election from us.
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) November 6, 2020
Step up and FIGHT BACK! Donate NOW ⬇ï¸https://t.co/m3TeSlqlKw
Starting early on Thursday, the campaign and the Republican National Committee have been sending dozens of daily text messages and emails saying they need financial support to challenge voting procedures.
“We must PROTECT the Election!” says one campaign text Friday signed by Mr. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. “My father’s calling on YOU to help bolster our critical Election Defence Fund.”
Clicking through to the donation page, potential givers can review a disclaimer that 50 per cent of any contribution will be used for general election campaign debt retirement and 50 per cent for the campaign’s recount account.
Other Trump fundraising pitches in recent days ask for help to “protect the integrity of this election” but lead to a donation page for Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” committee. The fine print on those solicitations says 60 per cent of a contribution helps the campaign retire debt and 40 per cent goes to the Republican National Committee.
Mr. Biden also is seeking new money for legal battles.
Anne Barrowclough 11.15am: Biden lead grows; Trump ‘starting to face reality’
Joe Biden is closing in on the presidency, growing his lead to nearly 20,000 after the latest vote count. Allegheny County, which includes the state’s second largest city of Pittsburgh, has released 5345 votes; of those, 4134 people voted for Mr Biden, and 1076 for Donald Trump. Mr Trump is beginning to acknowledge that he won’t be able to pull a come-from-behind win out of a hat, CNN reports. However this does not mean that he is preparing to concede or giving up on the idea of legal appeals.
I had such a big lead in all of these states late into election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
It is now uncertain whether Mr Biden will speak today after all. US media is reporting that the Biden team had expected the race to be called by now and may wait until the final result.
Staff writers 11.00am: Democrats flip GOP House seat
Democrats are on course to maintain their House majority, though with lower numbers than they had expected, the Wall St Journal reports.
After losing several seats to Republicans earlier in the week, Democrats scored their first pick-up when the Associated Press called that Carolyn Bourdeaux, a professor, won an open seat previously held by Republicans in Georgia. The seat was a top target for Democrats after Ms. Bordeaux narrowly lost in 2018.
The balance of the House stood at 212 for Democrats and 194 Republicans as of late Friday ET (Saturday AEDT), with several contests still without a called winner. A party needs 218 seats for a majority if all seats are filled. Heading into the election, Democrats had a majority of 232 to 197, with one Libertarian and five open seats, and party leaders had expressed optimism that they would expand their majority.
Anne Barrowclough 10.40am: Biden to speak at noon
Joe Biden is set to give an address at noon (AEDT), as his margin in Pennsylvania increases slightly, giving him a lead of nearly 17,000 votes. He has also gained another 2,520 votes in the Las Vegas area, giving him a lead of over 22,000 in Nevada.
WH calls “lid†for the day. Means no press appearance by Pres Trump the rest of the day.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 6, 2020
The White House has said now that Mr Trump won’t be appearing in public today.
John Connolly 10.30am: Trump’s got nothing on ‘His Fraudulency’
Of course, the millions around the world who think Donald Trump is too wacky to be president conveniently forget that many of his predecessors make him look like Winston Churchill.
Take Chester A. Arthur (1881-85), who hired Louis Tiffany to redecorate the White House before he moved in. As historian Feather Foster writes: “Few people would have ever believed that Chester Alan Arthur, New York ‘spoilsman’ politician, would ever have become president of the USA. Only a few years earlier, his name had been linked to corruption at the Customs House in the Port of New York. While CAA’s personal honesty was vindicated, huge graft and malfeasance had been committed on his watch. He was summarily dismissed.”
As president, Old Chesty’s problem was a lack of cash to pay Lou so he had a yard sale. He sold 24 wagonloads of White House furniture and artefacts. These included an old pair of Abraham Lincoln’s pants (Old Chesty had 80 pairs of pants of his own), one of John Quincy Adams’s hats and just about everything else that wasn’t nailed down.
As the New Republic’s Jeet Heer helpfully points out, the problem is that every US president had and has a penis. While Trump has boasted about the size of his: “I have to say this: He hit my hands. No one has ever hit my hands. Look at those hands, are those small hands? And he referred to my hands as if, if they’re small, something else may be small. I guarantee to you there’s no problem, I guarantee!”
Harold Holt’s favourite president, Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69), put the Trumpster’s to shame. LBJ, very publicly, called his member Jumbo
READ the full story
Staff writers 10.10am: Military ballots could move vote
Thousands of mail-in military ballots are still being counted in Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, critical swing states where service members’ votes could change the direction of the presidential race.
At least 23,577 outstanding military ballots remain outstanding in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, according to Count Every Hero, a group that advocates for the voting rights of service members. Those include as many as 10,000 military ballots in Pennsylvania and another 8,900 mail-in ballots in Georgia, two states where Joe Biden held a razor thin edge over President Trump. The ballots either have yet to be counted or have not been mailed back to the states’ election board, Count Every Hero said, according to the Wall St Journal.
Such ballots have to be received in Pennsylvania and Nevada by November 10 and by today (AEDT) in Georgia.
“These overseas military members, and their families, could be the deciding votes at the end of the count,” said Ellen Moorhouse, a spokeswoman for Count Every Hero.
COUNT EVERY MILITARY BALLOT!
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) November 5, 2020
Mr Trump has already asked on Twitter about “missing military ballots in Georgia.” And Republican congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted that “Military ballots will secure Georgia for President Trump.”
However the military isn’t as firmly Republican as some think, as their political views have always been hard to know. An annual poll by Military Times just before the political conventions showed that one in two service members had an unfavourable view of Mr. Trump, up from the year before. Thirty-seven per cent of service members said they would vote for Mr. Trump while 41 per cent said they would vote for Mr. Biden.
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, which includes the state’s second largest city of Pittsburgh, to release 36,000 votes.
"We're going to continue to count the ballots as quickly as we can without sacrificing accuracy." Lisa Deeley, Philadelphia City Commissioners chairwoman, discusses the ongoing vote count in Pennsylvania's largest city.
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 6, 2020
MORE: https://t.co/BjmOGlEbJp pic.twitter.com/4CSosBrUXs
Anne Barrowclough 9.05am: Biden lead expands in Georgia
Joe Biden’s lead in Georgia has increased to 4263, after Gwinnet County released its vote count. The vote has expanded by a wide margin from nearly 1500 votes. Gwinnet was the last big county to report back; there are only a few smaller counties left to report. However military ballots, which tend to lean toward the Republicans, are yet to be counted.
This @BBCNews cheat sheet is easier to understand than most American sources.
— Michael J. Miraflor (@michaelmiraflor) November 6, 2020
As of today, it all boils down to this: pic.twitter.com/AkEBhna0JW
Anne Barrowclough 8.50am: Pennsylvania Republicans go back to court
The Pennsylvania Republican Party has gone to the Supreme Court again, this time asking the court to order election officials to segregate the ballots; that is, separate those ballots that arrived after Election Day from other mailed in ballots.
Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State has already ordered this but GOP emergency application said it couldn’t be sure officials had complied.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that ballots sent before Election Day can be counted if they arrive within three days after.
Meanwhile American voters are getting tired of the ongoing delays, particularly in Nevada, where the count is coming in dribs and drabs. Many have taken to social media to show what they think of Nevada ballot counters, compared with those states where results came in quickly.
They got my mans sloth in Nevada counting the votes pic.twitter.com/DKODChKD1D
— ifeanyi🇳🇬 (@MeatheadManny) November 5, 2020
Wisconsin & Michigan counting their mail in ballots pic.twitter.com/NA18AYB11r
— David (@DavidNMelendez) November 4, 2020
Anne Barrowclough 8.35am: Dark mood in the White House
Pity the poor White House staff, who are facing being jobless after the election. While those close to Donald Trump, such as counsellor Hope Hicks are focused on “managing his anger,” amid an atmosphere that is both dark and frenzied, most are only now coming to the realisation that they’re about to be back on the jobs market.
Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
Mr Trump is visibly angry and frustrated, glued to television, tweeting and complaining that not enough people are defending his claim that the election is being stolen from him, CNN’s White House correspondent reports. Close Trump aide Rudy Giuliani and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows are reportedly enabling the president in that belief, which others in the West Wing are finding unhelpful.
But others on the staff have started looking for a job. With Mr Trump appearing indestructible – particularly after his brush with coronavirus – many had been swept up in his certainty that he would be returned to the presidency and had not considered the alternative, CNN reports.
However the mood has become increasingly sombre and a number of staffers have not even shown up to work.
“A lot of the desks are empty. It feels spooky. Some of the staffers are outside the White House, talking privately on their mobile phones and walking around,” a CBS White House correspondent said.
Usually White House staff can move on to well remunerated positions elsewhere – but Trump White House staffers who have gone back into the jobs market have found it difficult.
Mr Trump has spent part of the day in the Oval Office and may give another address later today, the BBC reports.
Aides told the broadcaster he would likely go back before the cameras if Mr Biden speaks again, as his campaign has said he would.
Meanwhile Vice-President Mike Pence is busy on the phone trying to drum up funds for Mr Trump’s inevitable appeal over the final result.
But some good news for Mr Trump, as he steadily eats into Joe Biden’s lead in Arizona. The state is still counting its ballots as Mr Biden’s lead narrows to just 39,769 – a margin of just 1.27 per cent.
The state still has an estimated 250,000 to 270,000 unaccounted ballots left to count, according to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
Ms Hobbs told CNN 137,000 of those ballots were in Maricopa County, in normal times a Republican stronghold.
“They have been doing about 60,000 to 70,000 at a time” Ms Hobbs said. “They have told us they expect to be counting through the weekend and should have pretty much everything except for provisional ballots wrapped up this weekend.”
Staff writers 8.15am: Biden margin set to increase with new Pennsylvania count
A Pennsylvania county that wasn’t allowed to start counting until Friday morning ET is set to release 36,000 votes, which are expected to widen Joe Biden’s leading margin.
Allegheny County, which includes the state’s second largest city of Pittsburgh, was forced to a late count after it was found the wrong ballots had been sent to 29,000 voters due to a sorting mix-up.
"We're going to continue to count the ballots as quickly as we can without sacrificing accuracy." Lisa Deeley, Philadelphia City Commissioners chairwoman, discusses the ongoing vote count in Pennsylvania's largest city.
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 6, 2020
MORE: https://t.co/BjmOGlEbJp pic.twitter.com/4CSosBrUXs
After a lawsuit filed in federal court by two Republican congressional candidates, a consent order in October barred Allegheny from counting those affected ballots until Friday. The count was further delayed when it was found 2,200 ballots couldn’t be scanned so had to be reviewed by hand.
Authorised observers from political parties and campaigns were allowed to view the process.
In addition, the county had not started counting provisional ballots, county spokeswoman Amie Downs said Friday. Provisional ballots are given to prospective voters when there are questions about eligibility. The ballot is kept but not counted until eligibility is determined.
Additionally, military and overseas ballots that arrive by a deadline on Tuesday will also be counted.
Agencies 7.45am: Paths to victory for Biden, Trump
The outcome of the US presidential election remains in the balance as a handful of battleground states complete their vote counts, but Joe Biden is edging toward victory — barring a major surprise.
The Democrat has racked up at least 264 of the 270 electoral votes that he needs, according to US network projections, and has taken the lead in Pennsylvania, which would put him over the top.
Donald Trump has amassed 214 electoral votes so far, and while the Republican incumbent was still in contention in several states that could afford him a path to re-election, that path was narrowing.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Biden has pulled ahead in the southeastern state of Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, but it remains too close to call.
With Arizona, Biden would currently have 264 electoral votes. Much of the delay in key states has resulted from a flood of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic — and those votes have tended to favour Democrats.
Here is a look at the situation in the key states that are still up for grabs:
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania is the biggest prize remaining, with 20 electoral votes. Trump had been ahead, but Biden overtook him on Friday morning and, as of 7am AEDT, leads by nearly 14,000 votes — out of more than 6.6 million cast.
The majority of votes left to be counted are in Democratic-leaning areas such as greater Philadelphia. With some 95 per cent of the ballots counted, Biden had 49.53 per cent of the total compared to Trump’s 49.33, according to state election data.
🚨⚖ï¸BREAKING: Fed judge in PENNSYLVANIA denies GOP effort to toss ballots that initially contained errors that were later corrected (or "cured") pic.twitter.com/Hxo1sbSknY
— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) November 6, 2020
GEORGIA
In Georgia, Trump’s initial lead over Biden steadily slipped away as vote counting continued in heavily Democratic areas, and the former vice president is now slightly ahead.
Biden’s lead is 1,585 votes as of 7am AEDT. More than 98 per cent of the ballots have been counted.
Georgia has not chosen a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1992. Its 16 electoral votes would put Biden just under 270 — or over the top if he holds Arizona.
Georgia election officials say there are still 8,410 military and overseas ballots that could be counted if they arrive on time Friday: "More than zero and less than 8,410. It'll be somewhere in that range. We don't really know how many that is." Biden leads Trump by 1,589 votes pic.twitter.com/CXzZ1ZgCVF
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 6, 2020
NEVADA
Biden had been favoured to win Nevada, and its six electoral votes could put him precisely at the number needed to win if he keeps Arizona.
With about 92 per cent of the vote counted, Biden was leading by more than 20,000 votes in the Western state — an increase from earlier in the day.
🚨BREAKING: We have filed our opposition to GOP's latest Nevada lawsuit: "This lawsuit is nothing more than a desperate attempt by Plaintiffs to make an end-run around the loss they suffered in state court just a few days ago on nearly identical claims."https://t.co/n4x3QOCcsR
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) November 6, 2020
NORTH CAROLINA
In North Carolina, which has 15 electoral votes, Trump had a lead of around 76,700 votes with 95 per cent of the ballots tabulated. He had around 50 per cent of the total compared to Biden’s 48.6 per cent.
Trump is favoured to win the southeastern state, but mail-in ballots sent on or before election day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12. — AFP
Daniel Sankey 7am: Trump ‘wrong’ to declare election rigged
Republican US Senator Mitt Romney has blasted Donald Trump for his alleging the election was rigged against him.
A Republican senator but a Trump critic, Romney unsuccessfully challenged for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, losing out to John McCain — who in turn lost the race for the White House to Barack Obama.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 6, 2020
While Romney said Trump was “within his rights” to request recounts and seek investigations into alleged voting irregularities, as his supporters claim occurred, he said it was “wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen.”
“Doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world, weakens the institutions that lie at the foundation of the Republic, and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions,” Romney said.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 6, 2020
Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell echoed Trump’s calls for every legal vote to be counted.
“Any illegally submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes,” he tweeted.
Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted. Any illegally-submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) November 6, 2020
That's how Americans' votes decide the result.
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said the election was “far from over” while Senator Lindsey Graham vowed to donate $500,000 to help fund Trump’s legal defence.
Far from over. Republicans will not back down from this battle.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 6, 2020
Daniel Sankey 6.25am: Where the key seats stand right now
Here is the latest in the count in the key states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina. Democratic challenger Joe Biden currently has 264 electoral college votes, just short of the 270 he needs to win his way to the White House — but he holds the lead over Donald Trump in three of these four key states.
GEORGIA
Officials have declared there will be a recount in Georgia, in which Biden held a lead of just 1,557 votes overnight.
Traditionally a Republican-friendly state, Trump held the lead in Georgia last night (AEDT), when Biden pulled ahead with 2,450,194 votes compared to Trump’s 2,448,637.
“With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
They're not "missing."
— stephen fowler covers Georgia's election! (@stphnfwlr) November 6, 2020
Up to 8,900 military/overseas ballots that were sent out were not yet returned, much like tens of thousands of regular absentees that were requested and not returned because people are allowed to not vote.
Deadline to be received is today, too. https://t.co/YF4FfDKO8U
PENNSYLVANIA
Biden holds a narrow lead in Pennsylvania, where 98% of the vote has been counted. He currently has a lead of 13,662 votes, with 3,311,673 to Trump’s 3,298,011.
The longer the count continues in Pennsylvania, however, the more Biden’s lead grows. Counting will continue today but if the current trend continues, Biden will win the state which brings with it 20 electoral college votes.
A lawsuit is alleging that Pennsylvania's voter rolls are filled with 21,000 dead people.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 6, 2020
Is this what a secure election looks like? Where is the DOJ?
NEVADA
A result is not expected in Nevada for several days, with around 13 per cent of the vote still to be counted.
Currently, Biden holds a lead of 20,137 votes (627,104 to Trump’s 606,967).
Most of the approximately 50,000 ballots still to be counted are mail-in ballots from Clark County, the state’s population centre.
“The bulk of our ballots we’re hoping will be ready by Saturday or Sunday, this weekend,” Clark County election official Joe Gloria said.
“And again we won’t complete until November 12 with all of those ballots that serve as exceptions.”
Joe Biden’s lead in Nevada nearly doubled on Friday to more than 20,000 votes. About 9% of the state’s votes remain uncounted, and many of them are from Clark County, which will provide an update before 7 p.m. Eastern. https://t.co/EM4McJ43HH
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 6, 2020
NORTH CAROLINA
The news is better for Trump in North Carolina, where the President holds a lead of 76,701 votes with around 94 per cent of ballot counted.
The Wall Street Journal reported Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, as saying there were roughly 117,000 voters who requested an absentee ballot but had not voted. That number does not reflect voters who asked for an absentee ballot but chose to cast an in-person ballot.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by November 12 to be counted.
FYI Rush Limbaugh's incredibly stupid and false voter fraud theory is that Democrats "gave" North Carolina to Trump to keep the steal from being too suspicious and also are only fabricating presidential votes to save time which supposedly explains the downballot results.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) November 6, 2020
Daniel Sankey 5.58am: ‘It’s clear Biden has won’, Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has welcomed Joe Biden’s “strong mandate” to govern as she said it was clear the Democratic presidential challenger would win his way to the White House.
“It is clear that the Biden-Harris ticket will win the White House,” Pelosi told reporters as he proclaimed Biden the “President-elect”.
Nancy Pelosi calls Joe Biden "President-elect Biden" and says he "has a strong mandate to lead, and will have a strong Democratic House with him"
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 6, 2020
"This has been a life-or-death fight for the fate of our democracy...We did not win every battle in the House, but we won the war" pic.twitter.com/7HGKYUfDGx
“He will have a strong Democratic house with him and many Democrats in the Senate,” she said.
“This has been a life or death fight for the fate of our democracy, as he (Biden) says, the soul of our country. We did not win every battle in the House but we did win the war.”
Daniel Sankey 5.30am: Biden takes lead in Pennsylvania, Georgia
Democratic challenger Joe Biden is on the verge of victory in the 2020 US Election after taking the lead in the key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
As President Donald Trump becoming increasingly isolated after desperately claiming the election was “corrupt”, Biden this morning (AEDT) held narrow leads in not only Pennsylvania and Georgia, but also Nevada.
Keep the faith, folks.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 6, 2020
Overnight, Biden flipped a deficit of more than 18,000 votes into a 6,000-vote lead in Pennsylvania, which is worth 20 electoral votes.
As it currently stands, victory in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada would give Biden 302 electoral college votes — well above the 270 needed to take office.
Agencies 5.15am: Trump ‘could be escorted from White House’
Joe Biden’s campaign warned that President Donald Trump could be escorted from the White House if he refuses to admit defeat in America’s knife-edge election.
Democratic challenger Biden is edging towards the presidency after pulling ahead in the key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
But Trump has made it clear that he is not ready to concede, launching unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and claiming falsely that he had been cheated out of re-election.
“As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House,” said Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates.
With tens of thousands of votes remaining to be counted, many of them from heavily Democratic areas, Biden opened up a 9,000-vote lead over the Republican incumbent in Pennsylvania, real-time state election results showed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes would be enough to put the 77-year-old Biden past the magic number of 270 votes in the Electoral College, which determines the presidency.
Biden has also taken a razor-thin lead in Georgia.
Agencies 5am: Georgia to recount as Biden takes lead
The US state of Georgia will recount votes from the election in which Joe Biden has eked out a razor-thin lead over President Donald Trump.
“With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger, the top elected official overseeing elections, said the presidential contest in the state “remains too close to call.”
Almost complete results as overnight (AEDT) showed Biden leading by just over 1,500 votes in Georgia, where changing demographics and strong turnout from African-Americans have put in play a Southern state once seen as reliably backing Trump’s Republicans.
He said that Georgia was letting observers from both campaigns watch the counting after Trump, with no evidence, alleged widespread fraud nationwide.
Cameron Stewart 4.45am: Trump doubles down on corruption allegations
President Donald Trump was last night refusing to back down on allegations that Democrats had rigged counting in the 2020 US Election.
In an extraordinary White House briefing, Trump cited a litany of allegations about Republican election observers being kept away from the count and mysterious ballot boxes appearing in the dead of night full of Biden votes.
He claimed mail-in votes were being counted without postmarks or names attached to them.
“They are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election and we can’t let that happen,” Mr Trump said.
“We will not allow the corruption to steal such an important election — we can’t allow anyone to silence our voters.”
Where are the missing military ballots in Georgia? What happened to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
The three largest television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — all cut away from Mr Trump’s appearance as he continued to make allegations about the integrity of the election. Mr Trump did not offer any proof to back up his claims but said he would ask the courts to adjudicate.
“Philadelpiha has got a rotten history on election integrity.†@Varneyco @FoxBusiness
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
Mr Trump’s sons — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr — went on to accuse senior Republicans of abandoning their father, while other GOP figures criticised his comments.
Neither Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell nor House minority leader Kevin McCarthy would comment on Mr Trump’s claims or demands that counting of votes be stopped in some states.
Greg Sheridan 4.30am: Why Trump is making corruption allegations
The purpose of Donald Trump’s allegation of vote rigging and corruption are twofold, writes Greg Sheridan in The Australian today.
“One is to give some momentum to the legal challenges his campaign has launched against counting certain votes that they claim came in too late or were otherwise invalid. It is perfectly legitimate for Trump to pursue all legal avenues,” Sheridan says.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
“However, even if they have some modest success, these actions won’t get so many votes excluded that it changes the result.
“Second, Trump sets up the narrative that the election was stolen. This enables him to stay the centre of attention and continue what he loves most, wage a campaign of grievance.”
I easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with LEGAL VOTES CAST. The OBSERVERS were not allowed, in any way, shape, or form, to do their job and therefore, votes accepted during this period must be determined to be ILLEGAL VOTES. U.S. Supreme Court should decide!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
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