Joe Biden: 'We're going to win this race'

By David Sherfinski and Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times - Friday, November 6, 2020

Democratic challenger Joseph R. Biden said Friday that he’s on track to defeat President Trump in the 2020 election when all the votes are counted.

Mr. Biden stopped short of declaring victory, but he said the ongoing vote counts tell “a clear and convincing story.”

“We’re going to win this race,” he said in a speech in Delaware. “We’re going to win this race with a clear majority of the nation behind us.”

Mr. Biden held a 264-214 lead over Mr. Trump in projected Electoral College votes, according to tallies from the Associated Press. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

The former vice president had hoped that it would be a night for celebration, but he switched gears after key states continued to count ballots and after Mr. Trump continued to toss around allegations of voter fraud.

Mr. Biden did not mention Mr. Trump directly in his brief remarks, though he appeared to allude to the president’s call earlier in the week to “STOP THE COUNT!”

“Let the process work out as we count all the votes,” Mr. Biden said. “Your vote will be counted. I don’t care how hard people try to stop it. I will not let it happen.”

Mr. Biden said he and his running mate Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California have received more votes than any other presidential ticket in history.

“What’s becoming clear each hour is that a record number of Americans of all races faiths, religions, chose change over more of the same,” he said. “They have given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change, systematic racism.”

“They have made it clear they want the country to come together — not to continue to pull apart,” the former vice president said.

Early Friday, Mr. Biden overtook Mr. Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania as ballots from more heavily Democratic areas were counted.

His lead in Nevada also grew over the course of the day. He led in Arizona as well, though Mr. Trump has cut into Mr. Biden’s margins there since Tuesday.

Outstanding mail and absentee ballots have generally favored Mr. Biden in the key states, though Georgia appears headed toward a recount.

Mr. Biden said he is going to win all four states.

“We’re going to be the first Democrat to win in Arizona in 24 years,” he said. “We’re going to be the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years and we’ve rebuilt the blue wall in the middle of the country that crumbled four years ago: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin — the heartland of this nation.”

North Carolina, where Mr. Trump is leading, hasn’t been called yet, either, nor has typically red Alaska.

The president said on Twitter earlier Friday that Mr. Biden should not “wrongfully claim the office of the President.”

The Trump campaign has initiated various election-related legal challenges in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan and has vowed to pursue a recount in Wisconsin.

The AP and multiple networks called Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday.
Those states, plus Pennsylvania, were critical flips for Mr. Trump in his 2016 win.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.