Vote counting continues slowly but the trend shows Democratic candidate Joe Biden doing better than incumbent President Donald Trump. There are just 17 electoral college votes separating Biden from the 270 needed to win the White House.
In a speech on Friday night, Biden stopped short of declaring outright victory, but said he is set to win the election “with a clear majority, with the nation behind us”. However, he acknowledged the country’s divisions and urged Americans to “put anger and demonisation behind us”, adding: “We may be opponents, but we’re not enemies”
Biden is ahead of Trump in the remaining battleground states, which are key to victory:
- Pennsylvania, where Biden is currently leading by 28,883 ballots, has the largest number of electoral college votes of any of the remaining states and winning there alone would push Biden above 270
- It’s a similar gap in Arizona, where Biden is ahead of Trump by 29,861 votes
- The Democratic candidate is also in the lead in Nevada, with 22,657 votes
- While Biden is also in front in Georgia, the margin is razor thin – with just over 4,395 votes separating the two candidates. Officials there have said there will be a recount
President Donald Trump didn’t appear in public on Friday but he warned Biden on Twitter not to claim victory, saying that legal proceedings were “just now beginning”.
