US Election 2020 Results: The US will choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (File)
US President Donald Trump erupted in a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he has been cheated out of winning the US election as vote counting across battleground states early Friday showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.
"They are trying to steal the election," an increasingly isolated Trump said in an extraordinary appearance at the White House on Thursday, two days after polls closed.
According to Trump, Democrats were using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us."
Joe Biden, 77, was just one or at most two battleground states away from securing the majority to take the White House. Donald Trump, 74, needed an increasingly unlikely combination of wins in multiple states to stay in power.
Biden, who has promised to heal a country bruised by Trump's extraordinarily polarizing four years in power, appealed for "people to stay calm."
"We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator (Kamala) Harris and I will be declared the winners," he said in comments to reporters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
"The process is working," he said. "The count is being completed. And we will know soon."
The big shift to postal ballots this year reflected the desire of voters to avoid risking exposure to Covid-19 in crowded polling stations during a pandemic that has already killed some 235,000 Americans.
Here are the Live Updates on US Presidential Election Results 2020:
"Twitter Out Of Control": Trump Lashes Out As Micro-Blogging Site Flags His Posts
US President Donald Trump lashes out at Twitter for flagging his tweets questioning the vote-counting process.
US President Donald Trump lashes out at Twitter for flagging his tweets questioning the vote-counting process.
Twitter is out of control, made possible through the government gift of Section 230!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2020
"Supreme Court Should Decide!": Trump Tirade Over Alleged Illegal Votes
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
"They Are Trying To Steal The Election": Trump Erupts As Biden Closes In On Presidency
President Donald Trump launched a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he had been cheated out of winning the US election, as vote counting across battleground states early Friday showed Democrat Joe Biden closing in on victory, reported news agency AFP. Biden's momentum towards the White House built further with major media outlets reporting he had overtaken Trump by a razor-thin margin in the crucial battleground state of Georgia. "They are trying to steal the election," an increasingly isolated Trump said in an extraordinary appearance at the White House on Thursday, two days after polls closed.
President Donald Trump launched a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he had been cheated out of winning the US election, as vote counting across battleground states early Friday showed Democrat Joe Biden closing in on victory, reported news agency AFP. Biden's momentum towards the White House built further with major media outlets reporting he had overtaken Trump by a razor-thin margin in the crucial battleground state of Georgia. "They are trying to steal the election," an increasingly isolated Trump said in an extraordinary appearance at the White House on Thursday, two days after polls closed.
Biden Takes Narrow Lead In Georgia, Putting White House In Reach
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia for the first time early on Friday, putting the White House within his reach as it and other undecided states continue to count ballots, reported news agency Reuters. Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks. Winning Georgia's 16 electoral votes would put the former vice president on the cusp of the 270 he needs to secure the presidency. Biden, 77, would become the next president by winning Pennsylvania, or by winning two out of the trio of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia for the first time early on Friday, putting the White House within his reach as it and other undecided states continue to count ballots, reported news agency Reuters. Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks. Winning Georgia's 16 electoral votes would put the former vice president on the cusp of the 270 he needs to secure the presidency. Biden, 77, would become the next president by winning Pennsylvania, or by winning two out of the trio of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona.
JustIn| Joe Biden pulls ahead of Donald Trump in Georgia, votes still to count: Report
Gloved And Masked, US Vote Counters Keep Focused On Historic Task
If it were at another time, what they were doing could seem like nothing much, maybe office sorting of some kind.
But the stakes could not have been higher on Thursday as workers in masks and gloves stood over folding tables to verify and count, one by one, the remaining ballots in the yet to be decided US presidential election.
The world was watching -- and so, of course, were the campaign teams for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden along with their teams of lawyers.
Huge numbers of journalists from around the world were gathered, staking out space to record what will be a historic moment.
There was often not much to see -- just workers going about their task, sure and steady, dressed casually, sometimes with lanyards and IDs around their necks.
They made their way through a mountain of mailed ballots, the preferred method for many voters this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, checking their validity then sorting and running them through counting machines.
#USElections2020 | "Difficult to predict what is going to happen in the court, in the coming weeks": Esha Sarai, Correspondent, Voice Of America on #USElectionResultspic.twitter.com/ITb5fXbQbq
- NDTV (@ndtv) November 6, 2020
Two Detained Outside Pennsylvania Vote Count Center: Report
US police have detained two men outside a Philadelphia polling station in Pennsylvania, a battleground state yet to declare a winner in the presidential election, local media reported Friday.
Ballot counting continues in four crucial states days after Tuesday's vote, with Democrat Joe Biden still confident of capturing the presidency from incumbent Donald Trump.
Trump, narrowly ahead in Pennsylvania, has made unsubstantiated claims about vote rigging in these key states.
Shortly after 10 pm (0300 GMT) two men were detained outside the Philadelphia Convention Centre where vote counting is ongoing, according to the Philadephia Inquirer.
The local newspaper said the men were detained following a tip-off, first reported by 6ABC Action News Thursday night, that an armed group were heading to the center.
Watch | Dueling protests over count outside a vote tabulation site in Philadelphia on Thursday #USElections2020pic.twitter.com/SYq1fIFbEE
- NDTV (@ndtv) November 6, 2020
Donald Trump Junior Targets Nikki Haley For "Lack Of Action" Over Vote Fraud Claims
In an apparent attack on popular Indian-American Republican politician Nikki Haley, Donald Trump Jr has accused that "2024 GOP hopefuls" are "sitting on the sidelines" and not speaking out against the "fraud" in counting of votes as claimed by his father and US President Donald Trump. Read more
Supporters of US President Donald Trump hold signs and chant slogans during a protest outside the Philadelphia Convention Center as votes continue to be counted following the 2020 US presidential election.
YouTube Channels Making Money From Ads, Memberships Amplify Trump Voting Fraud Claims
At least nine popular YouTube channels were promoting on Thursday debunked accusations about voting fraud in the U.S. presidential race, conspiratorial content that could jeopardize advertising and memberships revenue they get from the video service.
Reuters found the channels, ranging from ones with 1,000 followers to more than 629,000, endorsing claims that fact-checking units of the Associated Press, Reuters and other organizations have deemed false or inaccurate.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, has rules that forbid channels using its revenue-generation tools from making "claims that are demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process."
Google said it was reviewing videos from the nine channels as well as others and may suspend ads and membership sales, a penalty commonly known as "demonetization," if violations are found.
Claiming voter fraud is widespread or that mail-in ballots cannot be trusted would be in violation, but highlighting people who say they experienced voter fraud or making hyperbolic statements about a political party "stealing" the election would not, Google said.
With ballot tallying ongoing in a few states whose results will decide the hotly contested race between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Trump has made unsubstantiated accusations about the Democratic party stealing the election. Trump's supporters have rallied behind the misinformation on social media and in protests outside vote-counting sites.
2020 US Presidential Election Recorded Highest Voter Turnout In 120 Years: Expert
The 2020 US presidential election has recorded the highest voter turnout in 120 years, a prominent electoral expert has said. Read more
The 2020 US presidential election has recorded the highest voter turnout in 120 years, a prominent electoral expert has said. Read more
Trump Senate Allies Attack Legitimacy Of Vote Count
Two Senate allies of Donald Trump on Thursday warned that Republicans may reject the legitimacy of vote results if they turn against the embattled president.
As a few Republicans distanced themselves from Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in Tuesday's election, Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz enthusiastically backed him in back-to-back appearances on Fox News.
"I'll tell you the president is angry and I'm angry and the voters ought to be angry," Cruz told the network's host Sean Hannity, whose evening show is a favorite of Trump.
Cruz alleged falsely that Pennsylvania's Democratic attorney general had ordered vote-counting in the state's largest city of Philadelphia "until Joe Biden wins."
"We need to get in there now," Cruz said of voting centers.
Pennsylvania officials say they will continue counting votes from Tuesday's election until they have accounted for all ballots.
Facebook Bans 'Stop The Steal' Group By Trump Allies Amid US Suspense
President Donald Trump's allies have turned to Facebook and other social media sites in an effort to spark nationwide protests against the 2020 election, thrusting some of Silicon Valley's most powerful organizing tools into a contest over the legitimacy of American democracy. Read more
US Networks Break From Live Trump Address Due To "Lies"
Several US TV networks late Thursday halted live coverage of Donald Trump's first public appearance since election night after concluding that the president was spreading disinformation.
Trump unleashed a flood of incendiary and unsubstantiated claims in a 17-minute address, insisting that Democrats were using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us."
The president spoke as late vote counting in battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.
"OK, here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States," said MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, as the network quickly ended its live coverage.
NBC and ABC News also pulled the plug on their live coverage of Trump.
"What a sad night for the United states of America to hear their president say that, to falsely accuse people of trying to steal the election," said CNN's Jake Tapper.
He described it as "lie after lie after lie about the election being stolen," with no evidence, "just smears."
US Election 2020 Results: Trump Campaign Attacks Fox News Polling Expert Who Called Arizona For Biden
US President Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday attacked the person at Fox News responsible for the network's projection calling Arizona for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as a "Clinton-voting, Biden-donating Democrat."
With Arizona in Biden's column, he would have 264 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, putting him closer to victory and narrowing his Republican opponent's path to re-election.
Trump's campaign website said, "decision desk" director Arnon Mishkin "prematurely called Arizona for Joe Biden before hundreds of thousands of ballots had been counted. Even left-leaning election analysts like (FiveThirtyEight's) Nate Silver have criticized the decision, but Mishkin is standing by his terrible decision despite and refusing to retract his unjustified call."
The website added that Mishkin: "has a long record of donating to Democrats, including the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign."
Fox News, controlled by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp, declined to comment. Mishkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US Election Hanging On Results Of Key States
The outcome of the US presidential election remained in the balance late Thursday as a handful of battleground states complete their vote counts.
Democrat Joe Biden has racked up at least 253 of the 270 electoral votes that he needs, according to US network projections -- and 264 if Arizona is included, which Fox News and The Associated Press have called in his favor.
Donald Trump has amassed 214 electoral votes so far, and is still in contention in several states that would afford the Republican incumbent a path to reelection.
Expected to report final vote counts Thursday night or Friday are Georgia (16 electoral votes), North Carolina (15), and Nevada (6).
However, mail-in ballots sent on or before Election Day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12.
Biden could reach the magic number to gain the White House with a win in any of the three, if he keeps Arizona. Trump needs to capture all three to stay competitive.
Here is a look at the situation in the key states that are still up for grabs, and paths to victory for each candidate:
Nevada
Nevada, where Biden is favored, could put him precisely at the number needed to win, if he keeps Arizona. With more than 89 percent of the vote counted, Biden was leading by less than 11,500 votes.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, Trump had a comfortable lead of around 77,000 votes with 95 percent of the ballots, about 5.38 million, tabulated.
Georgia
In Georgia, Trump's razor thin lead over Biden has been steadily slipping away to less than 2,500 votes, with about 98 percent counted.
Biden could pull in the lion's share of the final votes being counted -- less than 19,000 remained as of Thursday evening -- which include thousands in Democratic-leaning areas.
Georgia has not chosen a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is the biggest prize remaining, with 20 electoral votes. As in Georgia, Trump is currently leading, but the majority of votes left to be counted are in Democratic-leaning areas like greater Philadelphia.
As of Thursday evening, Trump's lead had dwindled to about 50,000 votes, with 92 percent of the ballots counted.
Arizona
One wild card that could upset these calculations: Arizona. Fox News and The Associated Press have already called the state's race in Biden's favor, but other networks including CNN and NBC have said it's still too close to call.
Arizona's Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told ABC News that she did not expect a final count on Thursday -- but also that she doesn't expect a recount.
"It's not looking like today, probably closer to tomorrow that we'll be closer to getting through all those ballots," Hobbs said.
On Thursday evening, Biden had a lead of about 46,000 votes with about 90 percent of the ballots counted.
US Election 2020 Results: "No Doubt" We Will Be Declared Winners, Says Joe Biden
US Democrat Joe Biden said Thursday he has "no doubt" he will defeat President Donald Trump and be declared winner of the US election, insisting that voters remain patient and that the result will be known "very soon". Read more
US Democrat Joe Biden said Thursday he has "no doubt" he will defeat President Donald Trump and be declared winner of the US election, insisting that voters remain patient and that the result will be known "very soon". Read more
US Election 2020 Results: Donald Trump Sons Stand By Their Father's Election Claims
While Donald Trump's political allies remained silent or distanced themselves Thursday from the US president, increasingly alone in his fight against what he says is widespread election "fraud", his oldest sons declared their filial loyalty.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest, called on his father in a tweet to wage "total war" against the cheating that he believes is tainting the presidential election.
The inflammatory tweet was framed by some, including the New York Post, as a clear sign of growing panic in the Trump camp over Joe Biden's chances of winning the White House.
"The best thing for America's future is for @realDonaldTrump to go to total war over this election to expose all of the fraud, cheating, dead/no longer in state voters, that has been going on for far too long," Don Jr. wrote on his Twitter account, where he regularly retweets conspiracy theories.
He did not provide any evidence of the cheating he alleged was going on.
"It's time to clean up this mess & stop looking like a banana republic!" he added, before deriding the "total lack of action" from Republicans, naming some -- such as South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, usually a staunch Trump ally.
US Election 2020 Results: Donald Trump Loses Legal Fight In Georgia And Michigan
US President Donald Trump's campaign lost court rulings in the closely-contested states of Georgia and Michigan on Thursday, even as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada.
In the Georgia case, the campaign alleged 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with on-time ballots. In Michigan, it had sought to stop votes from being counted and obtain greater access to the tabulation process.
State judges tossed out both the suits on Thursday.
Judge James Bass, a superior court judge in Georgia, said there was "no evidence" that the ballots in question were invalid.
In the Michigan case, Judge Cynthia Stephens said: "I have no basis to find that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits."
US Election 2020 Results: Donald Trump Accuses Democrats Of Trying To "Steal" US Election
US President Donald Trump erupted Thursday in a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he has been cheated out of winning the US election as vote counting across battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.
"They are trying to steal the election," Trump said in an extraordinary statement at the White House two days after polls closed.
Providing no evidence and taking no questions afterward from reporters in the room, Trump used the remarks of nearly 17 minutes to make the kind of incendiary statements about the country's democratic process that have never been heard before from a US president.
US Election 2020 Results: Joe Biden Inches Closer To Win As Donald Trump Vows Legal Challenge
With his re-election chances fading as more votes are counted in a handful of battleground states, US President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary assault on the country's democratic process from the White House on Thursday, falsely claiming the election was being "stolen" from him. Read more
With his re-election chances fading as more votes are counted in a handful of battleground states, US President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary assault on the country's democratic process from the White House on Thursday, falsely claiming the election was being "stolen" from him. Read more
Watch Live News:
