Trump and his aides are reportedly 'very anxious' Fox News will call Pennsylvania, clinching Biden victory

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

published 6 November 2020

President Trump's lead in Pennsylvania has shrunk to less than a percentage point, about 24,000 votes, as of Thursday evening, and the remaining, mostly mail-in ballots are believed to heavily favor Democrat Joe Biden. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, as seems very likely at this point, he is unofficially president-elect. Trump and his advisers are reportedly fixated on the possibility that Fox News, and its aggressive election decision desk, will crown Biden the winner sooner rather than later.

Trump and his advisers are still furious at Fox News for calling Arizona on election night — The Associated Press is the only news organization that has so far followed suit, and it looks like the race will end up being very close — in part because it "gummed up the visuals for his premature claim of victory on election night," David Siders reports at Politico. "Fox viewers could see the Electoral College vote count for themselves: at that point, Biden with 238 votes, Trump with 213. If Biden wins Pennsylvania or, less likely, Georgia, then the mystery surrounding Arizona no longer matters."

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Trump has publicly and baselessly called the expected shift in vote tallies toward Biden election theft, raising concerns about a peaceful transfer of power should Biden ultimately prevail. But Trump former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, tried to tamp that down Thursday, telling CNBC that "if the process runs, and I expect it to run, and at the end of that process Joe Biden's the president, you can absolutely guarantee a peaceful transition of power. I just hope the same is true on the other side."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.