The Trump campaign can't quite settle on a consistent message about the state of the race in Pennsylvania.
Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien on Thursday told reporters "we still have confidence in Pennsylvania," and he predicted that "we will win" the state," reports The Daily Beast's Sam Stein. Pennsylvania is among the crucial battleground states where votes continue to be counted, and with 91 percent of the votes in, Trump currently has a lead over Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. No news networks have projected a winner in Pennsylvania, however.
But Stepien's confidence in Trump's eventual Pennsylvania win comes after on Wednesday, Trump's campaign already prematurely claimed victory in the state.
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Stepien now says "we will win Pennsylvania" after declaring yesterday they had already won PA— Tom LoBianco (@tomlobianco) November 5, 2020
"We are declaring a victory in Pennsylvania," Stepien said on Wednesday. "This is not based on gut or feel. This is based on math."
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany had also previously tweeted, "VICTORY for President @realDonaldTrump in PENNSYLVANIA," while the president's son Eric falsely claimed, "We have won Pennsylvania!" Twitter attached warning labels to both of these tweets, noting that "official sources may not have called the race" yet. The Trump campaign also claimed in a fundraising email on Wednesday, "We have won Pennsylvania!"
Even on Thursday, though, not everyone in the campaign was exactly on the same page about this, as Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller again falsely claimed Trump has won Pennsylvania. While the race remains tight, The New York Times' Nate Cohn writes that Biden "remains on track" to pull ahead in Pennsylvania after Trump's lead "plummeted to two percentage points" by Thursday morning.
The Trump campaign on Thursday also generally expressed confidence that the president will win re-election after Biden said Wednesday he believes he will win. Stepien told reporters, "Donald Trump is alive and well."
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