Former Vice President Joe Biden is expressing confidence that he will win the 2020 presidential election as votes continue to be counted in key battleground states.
Biden spoke from Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday afternoon alongside Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as he moved closer to potentially reaching 270 electoral votes. The Democratic presidential nominee said his campaign believes he will emerge victorious when states finish counting their votes, though he did not declare victory.
"After a long night of counting, it's clear that we're winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency," Biden said. "I'm not here to declare that we've won, but I am here to report, when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners."
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.
Key battleground states like Pennsylvania have not yet been called, but Biden is currently leading with 253 electoral votes, while Trump has 214, per The New York Times. On Wednesday afternoon, Biden was projected to win the two crucial battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, both of which Trump won in 2016, making the president's path to a win more difficult, though not impossible. Biden is ahead at the moment in enough states to take him past 270 electoral votes should his leads hold, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver notes.
The Trump campaign is filing a lawsuit to "halt" the counting of votes in Michigan, while in Pennsylvania, the campaign has also said it's suing to "temporarily halt counting." Trump is ahead in Pennsylvania at this time and his campaign has prematurely declared victory in the state before any news network has called the race, but Biden said Wednesday that he feels "very good" about winning Pennsylvania.
Biden added in his remarks that once the 2020 election has ended, it will be time to "put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us," to "lower the temperature," and to "come together as a nation." Brendan Morrow
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
-
Film reviews: Anemone and The Smashing MachineFeature A recluse receives an unwelcome guest and a pioneering UFC fighter battles addiction
-
Music reviews: Geese, Jeff Tweedy, and Mariah CareyFeature “Getting Killed,” “Twilight Override,” and “Here for It All”
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
