SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Former Vice President and presidential nominee Joe Biden addresses reporters on November 5, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
As Trump Melts Down, Biden Campaign--Verging on Win--Says It Will Be 'Perfectly Capable of Escorting Trespassers' From White House
Biden teetering on victory as latest vote counts continue to lean toward Democratic challenger.
Nov 05, 2020
The Joe Biden campaign let it be known late Friday morning that it will have no trouble making sure President Donald Trump is removed from the White House if he--as looks increasingly likely--loses reelection but refuses to go voluntarily.
With votes still being counted in crucial states, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement that "the American people will decide this election," and then--in a quite apparent reference to Trump--added that "the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House."
Trump, meanwhile, continued to lash out and make "pathetic" and false claims that fraud is the reason he remains behind in key states, particularly Pennsylvania.
The presidential race as of midday Friday remained "too close to call" for most major news outlets and decision desks, but the window was rapidly closing for any chance for President Donald Trump--who has continued to lie and spew nonsense about election fraud as it suits him--to win reelection.
As of this writing:
- Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania.
- The latest ballots in Nevada saw his lead over Trump double. According to the latest numbers released by the state, Biden now has 624,246 votes (49.83% of the total), compared to Trump's 602,170 (48.07%). The current difference of 22,076 votes, is approximately twice Biden's earlier 11,000 vote lead.
- In Georgia, Biden also took his first lead Friday morning as that state's counting neared completion, though the race remained within the margin of a possible recount and nearly tied with the candidates each carrying approximately 49.4% of the vote. With an estimated 64,000 thousand votes to count, NBC News reports that Biden's lead currently sits at 1,584 votes.
- Arizona also remained "too close to call," but Biden's lead had increased to 50% over Trump's 48.6%. In that state, with just over 225,000 votes left to count, Biden maintained a lead of nearly 44,000 votes.
Of those four key states, none is more important than Pennsylvania, where a confirmed win there for Biden would all but assure him of surpassing the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure victory. According to the New York Times--which now calculates that electoral race as 253 to 214 in favor of Biden--a win the Keystone State--worth 20 electoral votes--"would be decisive" for the Democratic former vice president.
"If Joe Biden's lead over President Trump in Pennsylvania holds, he will win the presidency," the Times reported.
Mr. Biden, who was winning the popular vote by more than four million votes and has already won 253 electoral votes, pulled ahead of Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania by about 9,000 votes on Friday morning. If his lead holds -- and it is expected to -- the state's 20 electoral votes would vault him past the threshold to win the election. In Georgia, his lead was so narrow that state officials said a recount was inevitable.
In Arizona, Mr. Biden maintained his lead as election officials continued to plow through tens of thousands of ballots from Phoenix and its sprawling suburbs. His advantage shrank slightly, but not by as much as Republicans had hoped. In Nevada, Mr. Biden nearly doubled his lead Friday to around 20,000 votes.
While the results are still not official, political observers were becoming increasingly willing to say out loud that the contest is now over and that Biden should be considered the winner.
"Biden has won, but Trump won't concede," tweeted former labor secretary Robert Reich just before 11:00 am on Friday morning. "Since elections are officially over only when the loser concedes, this one will be going on until January 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in. Between now and then, Trump will make our lives as miserable as he can."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The Joe Biden campaign let it be known late Friday morning that it will have no trouble making sure President Donald Trump is removed from the White House if he--as looks increasingly likely--loses reelection but refuses to go voluntarily.
With votes still being counted in crucial states, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement that "the American people will decide this election," and then--in a quite apparent reference to Trump--added that "the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House."
Trump, meanwhile, continued to lash out and make "pathetic" and false claims that fraud is the reason he remains behind in key states, particularly Pennsylvania.
The presidential race as of midday Friday remained "too close to call" for most major news outlets and decision desks, but the window was rapidly closing for any chance for President Donald Trump--who has continued to lie and spew nonsense about election fraud as it suits him--to win reelection.
As of this writing:
- Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania.
- The latest ballots in Nevada saw his lead over Trump double. According to the latest numbers released by the state, Biden now has 624,246 votes (49.83% of the total), compared to Trump's 602,170 (48.07%). The current difference of 22,076 votes, is approximately twice Biden's earlier 11,000 vote lead.
- In Georgia, Biden also took his first lead Friday morning as that state's counting neared completion, though the race remained within the margin of a possible recount and nearly tied with the candidates each carrying approximately 49.4% of the vote. With an estimated 64,000 thousand votes to count, NBC News reports that Biden's lead currently sits at 1,584 votes.
- Arizona also remained "too close to call," but Biden's lead had increased to 50% over Trump's 48.6%. In that state, with just over 225,000 votes left to count, Biden maintained a lead of nearly 44,000 votes.
Of those four key states, none is more important than Pennsylvania, where a confirmed win there for Biden would all but assure him of surpassing the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure victory. According to the New York Times--which now calculates that electoral race as 253 to 214 in favor of Biden--a win the Keystone State--worth 20 electoral votes--"would be decisive" for the Democratic former vice president.
"If Joe Biden's lead over President Trump in Pennsylvania holds, he will win the presidency," the Times reported.
Mr. Biden, who was winning the popular vote by more than four million votes and has already won 253 electoral votes, pulled ahead of Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania by about 9,000 votes on Friday morning. If his lead holds -- and it is expected to -- the state's 20 electoral votes would vault him past the threshold to win the election. In Georgia, his lead was so narrow that state officials said a recount was inevitable.
In Arizona, Mr. Biden maintained his lead as election officials continued to plow through tens of thousands of ballots from Phoenix and its sprawling suburbs. His advantage shrank slightly, but not by as much as Republicans had hoped. In Nevada, Mr. Biden nearly doubled his lead Friday to around 20,000 votes.
While the results are still not official, political observers were becoming increasingly willing to say out loud that the contest is now over and that Biden should be considered the winner.
"Biden has won, but Trump won't concede," tweeted former labor secretary Robert Reich just before 11:00 am on Friday morning. "Since elections are officially over only when the loser concedes, this one will be going on until January 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in. Between now and then, Trump will make our lives as miserable as he can."
The Joe Biden campaign let it be known late Friday morning that it will have no trouble making sure President Donald Trump is removed from the White House if he--as looks increasingly likely--loses reelection but refuses to go voluntarily.
With votes still being counted in crucial states, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement that "the American people will decide this election," and then--in a quite apparent reference to Trump--added that "the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House."
Trump, meanwhile, continued to lash out and make "pathetic" and false claims that fraud is the reason he remains behind in key states, particularly Pennsylvania.
The presidential race as of midday Friday remained "too close to call" for most major news outlets and decision desks, but the window was rapidly closing for any chance for President Donald Trump--who has continued to lie and spew nonsense about election fraud as it suits him--to win reelection.
As of this writing:
- Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania.
- The latest ballots in Nevada saw his lead over Trump double. According to the latest numbers released by the state, Biden now has 624,246 votes (49.83% of the total), compared to Trump's 602,170 (48.07%). The current difference of 22,076 votes, is approximately twice Biden's earlier 11,000 vote lead.
- In Georgia, Biden also took his first lead Friday morning as that state's counting neared completion, though the race remained within the margin of a possible recount and nearly tied with the candidates each carrying approximately 49.4% of the vote. With an estimated 64,000 thousand votes to count, NBC News reports that Biden's lead currently sits at 1,584 votes.
- Arizona also remained "too close to call," but Biden's lead had increased to 50% over Trump's 48.6%. In that state, with just over 225,000 votes left to count, Biden maintained a lead of nearly 44,000 votes.
Of those four key states, none is more important than Pennsylvania, where a confirmed win there for Biden would all but assure him of surpassing the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure victory. According to the New York Times--which now calculates that electoral race as 253 to 214 in favor of Biden--a win the Keystone State--worth 20 electoral votes--"would be decisive" for the Democratic former vice president.
"If Joe Biden's lead over President Trump in Pennsylvania holds, he will win the presidency," the Times reported.
Mr. Biden, who was winning the popular vote by more than four million votes and has already won 253 electoral votes, pulled ahead of Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania by about 9,000 votes on Friday morning. If his lead holds -- and it is expected to -- the state's 20 electoral votes would vault him past the threshold to win the election. In Georgia, his lead was so narrow that state officials said a recount was inevitable.
In Arizona, Mr. Biden maintained his lead as election officials continued to plow through tens of thousands of ballots from Phoenix and its sprawling suburbs. His advantage shrank slightly, but not by as much as Republicans had hoped. In Nevada, Mr. Biden nearly doubled his lead Friday to around 20,000 votes.
While the results are still not official, political observers were becoming increasingly willing to say out loud that the contest is now over and that Biden should be considered the winner.
"Biden has won, but Trump won't concede," tweeted former labor secretary Robert Reich just before 11:00 am on Friday morning. "Since elections are officially over only when the loser concedes, this one will be going on until January 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in. Between now and then, Trump will make our lives as miserable as he can."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.