Biden Overtakes Trump Lead In Georgia, Pennsylvania As Mailed Ballots Counted; Trump Team Pursue Legal Action
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden erased President Donald Trump’s lead in the key battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania as numbers from absentee ballots started to come in — pushing the former vice president closer to the needed 270 electoral votes to win the election.
As of Friday morning, the Democratic challenger has at least 253 votes in states where election results have been called, while the incumbent Republican President has 214 votes as decision hangs on several crucial states including Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Alaska.
The Biden campaign insists they “feel very good” about the election development, while President Trump argued that Democrats are trying to “steal the election” through mail in votes.
The incumbent Republican president recorded commanding lead in several battleground states in the early counting on Tuesday, only to evaporate overnight as mailed ballots started to come in.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324613181466173440
“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. The US Supreme Court should decide!” the President tweeted on Friday.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324541720583905286
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324541695577436161
“Our goal is to defend the integrity of the election, we will not allow the corruption to steal such an important election or any election for that matter,” President Trump added.
Pennsylvania rules in favor of Trump
The Trump campaign earlier filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada demanding either a recount, more access to observe ballot counting and questions related to mail-in ballots.
Both courts of Michigan and Georgia denied the Trump campaign’s lawsuits, but a Philadelphia judge allowed GOP access to ballot counting — giving them permission to watch the canvassing within 6 feet from the local election officials processing the ballots.
BREAKING: Appellate court in PA this morning ruling guarantees GOP observers can watch the ballot counts. They had been pushed away 16 sometimes 100 feet away. "I can't stress enough how big a victory this is." Justin Clark, Trump Deputy Campaign Manager #Election2020 #VoteCount
— Carrie Sheffield (@carriesheffield) November 5, 2020
PA appellate court orders that vote count observers must be allowed within 6 feet of the canvassing process – previously were forced 20+ feet away pic.twitter.com/WSxbPCNDjU
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 5, 2020
The President also celebrated the court decision as a “big win.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324382829535498244
In Nevada, as many as 6,000 illegal votes were reportedly identified.
Boom! As many as 6,000 illegal votes identified in Nevada — https://t.co/53s499LefR
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) November 6, 2020
Lindsey Graham donates US$500K for Trump campaign’s legal efforts
Meanwhile, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday that he will be donating US$500,000 to the Trump campaign as they pursue legal action in states where the election results were too close.
The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman also called out the mainstream media for its inaccurate polls which he said is meant to “suppress” Republican votes.
“I’m here tonight to stand with President Trump,” Senator Graham said in the Sean Hannity show. “He stood with me; he’s the reason we’re gonna have a Senate majority. My race was overwhelming. He helped Senate Republicans. We’re gonna pick up House seats because of the campaign that President Trump won.”
“Mainstream media polling is designed to suppress Republican votes. I won by 11, Susan [Collins] won by seven or eight [in Maine], Mitch [McConnell] won by 21 [in Kentucky]. It’s a game they play with their polling to depress the Republican vote,” he added.
Reports said the South Carolina senator also called the messy Pennsylvania election as “crooked as a snake” — supporting the Trump campaign’s move to resort to legal means.
“Let’s stand with President Trump. He stood with us,” he added.
Graham says Philadelphia elections are "crooked as a snake," adding "I think everything should be on the table," with regard to legal action.
"Let's stand with President Trump. He stood with us," he added.
Graham told Hannity he does "trust Arizona," however.
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) November 6, 2020
Don Jr. attacks “2024 GOP hopefuls” for weak backing
Critics, however, slammed Senator Graham for coming out to support the Republican incumbent president, only after Donald Trump Jr. called out “all of the 2024 GOP hopefuls” for their silence.
A jab at @LindseyGrahamSC from the president's son. 👀 https://t.co/zXsKZEI89X
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) November 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/Meetostikku/status/1324486409936396290
“The total lack of action from virtually all of the “2024 GOP hopefuls” is pretty amazing,” the President’s son tweeted.
“They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead. Don’t worry @realDonaldTrump will fight & they can watch as usual!” he added.
The total lack of action from virtually all of the “2024 GOP hopefuls” is pretty amazing.
They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing & able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead.
Don’t worry @realDonaldTrump will fight & they can watch as usual!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 5, 2020
