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WILMINGTON, Delaware / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrat Joe Biden said he would win the U.S. presidency as his lead over President Donald Trump increased in battle states, though television networks held back from declaring so. winner while officials continued to count votes. .
“The numbers tell us … it’s a clear and compelling story – we’re going to win this race,” Biden said late on Friday, adding that he and his running mate Kamala Harris were already meeting with experts as they prepared. for the road. White House.
Americans have been waiting longer than in any presidential election since 2000 to find the winner, as officials methodically counted a record number of mail-in ballots in Tuesday’s contest. The COVID-19 pandemic led many to avoid large groups of voters on Election Day.
With thousands of votes yet to be counted, it was unclear when the bitter contest would end.
Biden’s supporters danced on the streets of Philadelphia, while armed Trump supporters in Phoenix and Detroit said the election was being stolen, despite any evidence of wrongdoing. Under the slogan “Stop the Steal,” Trump supporters planned dozens of demonstrations for Saturday.
Biden’s speech in his home state of Delaware was originally planned as a victory celebration, but he shifted his focus in the absence of an official call from broadcasters and other election forecasters.
Still, it represented a blunt challenge for Trump. The Republican incumbent remained hidden in the White House on Friday as Biden’s leadership grew in the four states that will decide the outcome: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Leading Trump by 4.1 million votes nationwide out of a record cast of 147 million, Biden said the Americans had given him a mandate to address the pandemic, struggling economy, climate change and systemic racism.
“They made it clear that they want the country to unite, not continue to separate,” Biden said.
He said he hoped to address the Americans again on Saturday.
Trump has remained defiant, vowing to press the baseless fraud allegations as his Republicans sought to raise $ 60 million to fund lawsuits that question the results. But some in his field described the legal effort as disorganized and so far they have been unsuccessful in court.
When the count entered its fifth day, former Vice President Biden held a 253-214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote determining the winner, according to Edison Research. Democrats grew increasingly frustrated that the networks had yet to call out a winner.
Securing Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes would put Biden over the 270 he needs to win the presidency after a political career that stretches back nearly five decades.
Biden would also win if he prevails in two of the other three key states. Like Pennsylvania, all three were still processing ballots on Friday.
As officials count an avalanche of mail-in ballots, Biden has held on to narrow leads in Nevada and Arizona and last Friday surpassed Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
In Arizona, Biden led by 29,861 votes with 97% of the count completed. In Nevada, he led by 22,657 votes with 93% of the complete count.
In Georgia, he led by just 4,289 votes with the full count at 99%, while in Pennsylvania he led by 27,130 votes with 96% of the votes complete.
Biden said Trump’s demands to stop the count would not work.
“Your vote will be counted. I don’t care how much people try to stop it. I won’t let it happen,” Biden said.
Trump showed no signs that he was ready to give in, as his campaign launched a series of lawsuits that legal experts say would likely not alter the outcome of the election.
“Joe Biden shouldn’t unfairly claim the office of president. I could make that claim too. The legal proceedings are just beginning!” wrote on Twitter.
Republicans were aiming to raise at least $ 60 million for legal costs, although the fine print on the requests indicates that more than half of the money raised would go to pay off campaign debts.
A Trump adviser described the campaign’s litigation strategy as chaotic and disorganized. Another Republican official said he doubted the lawsuits would result in a Trump victory.
“This race is over and the only person who does not see it is Donald Trump,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In another blow to Trump’s efforts, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Meadows, who frequently appears at public events without a mask, is the latest person in Trump’s circle to contract the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans. The news came as a third wave ripped through the United States.
(Reporting from Trevor Hunicutt in Wilmington, Delaware, and Andy Sullivan and Makini Brice in Washington; Additional reporting from Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Aram Roston, Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Richard Cowan, John Whitesides, Simon Lewis, and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Written by Andy Sullivan; Edited by William Mallard)
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