Trump is reportedly planning to declare Election Day victory if ahead regardless of uncounted votes
President Trump has told confidants he'll declare victory on Tuesday night if he's leading the election, three sources familiar with his private comments told Axios' Jonathan Swan. Trump will reportedly stick to that plan even if there are still uncounted votes in crucial states like Pennsylvania that could alter the shape of the Electoral College in subsequent hours or days.
The "nightmare scenario" that would require careful coverage from networks, as National Journal's Josh Kraushaar sees it, involves Trump sweeping the Sun Belt swing states and leading in Pennsylvania on election night. Many prognosticators expect Trump to be leading the Keystone State on Tuesday, but the final outcome could change as mail-in ballots, which Axios notes the Trump campaign could falsely try to deem illegitimate, are counted after Nov. 3. So, there's a chance that scenario comes to fruition.
But, Kraushaar also said that if Trump's Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, picks up just one of North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, or Arizona, the Trump team's efforts will probably fall flat, and Axios' report indicates Trump's advisers believe he'll need to have commanding leads in all four, plus Iowa, Texas, and Ohio, to pull it off. Read more at Axios. Tim O'Donnell
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is China clearing out its generals?Podcast Plus, can the Conservatives win back the centre? And what’s gone wrong with Britain’s hearing aids?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A Viking festival, an inky fingerprint, and more
-
6 homes with incredible balconiesFeature Featuring a graceful terrace above the trees in Utah and a posh wraparound in New York City
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
