Joe Biden was leading in most of the key states left at stake, including Pennsylvania.
Washington:
Four days after a bitterly contested presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the United States on Saturday was still waiting for definitive results, with the former Democratic vice president poised to win the White House.
Biden was leading the way in most of the key states left at stake, including Pennsylvania, where a victory would see the veteran Democrat surpass the magic number of 270 votes in the Electoral College, which decides the presidency.
But Trump, whose re-election bid seemed increasingly unlikely, showed no signs of budging and launched a series of morning tweets criticizing what he called “illegally received” votes in Pennsylvania and other “thin” states.
Those tweets were flagged and masked by the messaging platform for containing potentially misleading content.
On Friday night, Biden, 77, called on Americans for unity, repeating his belief that he would emerge victorious, but said the country needed to wait for the process to run its course.
“We must leave anger and demonization behind. It is time for us to come together as a nation and heal ourselves,” Biden said in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, accompanied by his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris.
“My responsibility as president will be to represent the entire nation.”
In his late-night speech, Biden took a decidedly presidential tone, vowing to address the Covid-19 pandemic as new cases in the United States, which remains the world’s worst-hit nation, hit a new record of more than 127,000. .
“The pandemic is becoming significantly more worrisome across the country,” Biden said, noting that he and Harris had a briefing on Friday about the crisis, which has claimed more than 235,000 American lives.
“Our hearts break with you. And I want everyone to know that on the first day, we are going to put into action our plan to control this virus.”
The US media reported that 61-year-old White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had contracted the virus, underscoring criticism leveled at the president for months for his administration’s handling of the crisis.
Meadows tested positive for the first time on Wednesday, the day after the election, according to The New York Times.
Advancing to victory
Biden, however, fell short of formally declaring victory, as races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and other battlefield states remained undecided.
But Biden’s lead grew steadily in Pennsylvania, standing at more than 28,000 on Saturday morning, according to state election data.
Biden was also ahead in Arizona and Georgia, two states that did not vote for Democrats in the 21st century, as well as Nevada, while Trump had a slight lead in North Carolina and was expected to win Alaska.
Georgia said it was ordering a recount due to the narrow margin. The southern state will also have runoff races in January for its two Senate seats, which will likely determine whether Democrats wrest control of the upper house from Republicans and give Biden a broader path to legislative victories.
Trump has prematurely named himself the winner several times, refusing to accept the data that shows Biden poised for victory.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits across the country alleging fraud, but made little progress, with no evidence being presented to support the alleged tampering with the ballot or other major incidents.
“Mr. Trump hates losing and will certainly fight to the end,” The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial.
“But if defeat comes, he will better serve himself and his country by honoring America’s democratic traditions and leaving office with dignity.”
Seeking legal action
Pennsylvania Republicans launched a final appeal for emergency intervention by the United States Supreme Court to stop the counting of votes in the state, as many of the late ballots have turned the race in favor of Biden.
Judge Samuel Alito, considered a conservative, refused to order an immediate suspension: he ordered Pennsylvania to keep late ballots separate, affirming a policy already implemented by state electoral authorities.
He said any further response from the full court would come no later than Saturday.
Trump has now falsely said several times that ballots are being fabricated for Biden or stolen.
But the unprecedented attacks on America’s electoral integrity by a president ignore a simple fact about the different types of votes cast.
Votes cast in person on Election Day and counted first largely favored Trump, who has questioned mail ballots and urged his supporters to vote in person.
Later, the count turned into the flood of votes sent by mail by Americans who did not want to go to crowded polling stations amid the coronavirus pandemic, disproportionately voters for Biden.
Anger of Trump supporters
When Trump unleashed his offensive, his supporters vented their anger in front of electoral offices in several cities.
The protests were largely peaceful, but in Philadelphia, prosecutors said they were charging two men who drove with guns to the convention center where votes are tabulated.
In Atlanta, a poll worker went into hiding after facing death threats, with his car’s license plate number exposed online, after he was falsely accused of throwing a ballot.
The worker was seen on video discarding a piece of paper, which was in fact an instruction sheet mailed by a voter, said Richard Barron, the Fulton County Supervisor of Elections.
Most of Trump’s Republican Party stood firm behind him.
“Far from over,” tweeted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives. “The Republicans will not back down from this battle.”
But several Republicans voiced alarm over a president’s unprecedented attacks on the US electoral process.
“You are wrong to say that the elections were rigged, corrupted and stolen; doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world … and recklessly ignites destructive and dangerous passions,” said Mitt Romney, the only Republican senator who voted. . to convict the president at his impeachment earlier this year.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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