Joe Biden didn’t declare victory Friday night over President Trump in the race for the White House, but he emphasized that he’s “going to win” the presidential election.
“We don’t have a final declaration of victory yet but the numbers tell us a clear and convincing story. We’re going to win this race,” the Democratic presidential nominee said in a speech in his hometown of Wilmington, Del.
And the former vice president, with his running Sen. Kamala Harris at his side, touted the record-breaking 74 million votes for the Democratic ticket and emphaiszed that “the people spoke loudly for our ticket.”
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens as Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (Associated Press)
Biden highlighted that a “record number of Americans of all races, faiths, religions, chose change over more of the same. They’ve given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change, systemic racism. They’ve made it clear they want the country to come together.”
Biden early Friday narrowly pulled ahead of the president in the vote totals in the uncalled key battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Georgia. As of Friday evening Biden’s lead in his native state of Pennsylvania had grown to more than 27,000 votes. In Georgia, Biden held a razor-thin 4,000-vote margin over Trump. B
According to the Fox News Decision Desk, Biden has won 264 electoral votes — six shy of the 270 needed to win the White House – with Trump at 214 electoral votes. Vote counting continued in five swing states that will decide the election: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina.
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington.
‘Fighting’ mode
Hours earlier, President Trump vowed to keep “fighting,” vowing he would use “every aspect of the law” to try to secure a second term in the White House.
The president, in a statement Friday afternoon, said “we believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process.”
“From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we’ve met resistance for this basic principle by Democrats at every turn,” Trump emphasized. “We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”
The Trump 2020 Campaign has already filed lawsuits in a number of states this week, seeking access to poll watching, as well as a federal lawsuit in Nevada urging officials to stop counting “illegal” ballots, claiming thousands of ballots were sent to non-residents and the deceased.
They’ve also requested a recount in Wisconsin, which has been called for Biden but where the former vice president holds a razor-thin margin over Trump. The president’s campaign will likely ask for a recount in Pennsylvania, and Georgia officials say there will be a recount in their state.
