Democrat Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was confident of winning the presidency once all the votes are counted, and said he was leading Donald Trump in the remaining swing states that will determine the outcome of the election.
With Tuesday’s election results showing Biden getting closer and closer to the threshold necessary to win the White House, Trump has raised legal challenges in efforts to suspend vote counting or force recount on the battlefields that will determine to the next president.
“After a long night of counting, it is clear that we are winning enough states to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency,” said Biden in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
“I am not here to declare that we won. But I am here to report, when the count is over, we believe we will be the winners,” added Biden.
Even as US networks called Michigan, and his 16 electoral votes, for Biden on Wednesday, the president’s campaign announced a lawsuit to try to suspend vote counting on the fiercely contested battlefield.
Biden, speaking in a measured and calm tone, stepped back and declared that “all votes must be counted.”
“We the people will not be silenced,” he added, as his running mate Kamala Harris stood by his side.
The 77-year-old former vice president spoke about the three Great Lakes states that could be key to Biden’s victory, noting that Wisconsin had won by 20,000 votes.
“In Michigan, we’re leading by more than 35,000 votes and it’s growing, a substantially higher margin than President Trump won in Michigan in 2016,” he said.
And when it comes to perhaps the fundamental state of the entire election, Biden said, “I feel great about Pennsylvania.”
Trump leads in Keystone state with 84 percent of precincts reporting. But Biden said the vast majority of the remaining ballots that were counted were sent by mail and that he has been winning about 78 percent of the votes by mail in Pennsylvania.
Biden said they were campaigning as Democrats, but would rule as US president. “The presidency, itself, is not a partisan institution. It is the only office in this nation that represents everyone and demands a duty of care for all Americans and that is precisely what I will do,” he said.
Instilling a sense of calm in his speech as ballots continue to be counted in various states, Biden said it was time to put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind him.
“It’s time for us to do what we’ve always done as Americans: put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other, listen to each other again, and respect each other. And care for each other. Come together, heal, come together. as a nation, “he said.
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