With a slate of key states still undecided, Democratic nominee Joe Biden took to an outdoor stage in Wilmington, Del., to ask for patience as ballots continue to be counted.
“Your patience is commendable,” Biden told supporters. “We knew this was going to go long, but who knew we were going to go into maybe tomorrow morning, maybe even longer. But look, we feel good about where we are. We really do. I’m here to tell you tonight we believe we’re on track to win this election.”
Biden emphasized that it may take time before a winner is declared and that this is not unexpected.
“We knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote that it’s gonna take a while. We’re going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying the votes is finished. And it ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted.”
President Trump fired off a tweet just after Biden concluded talking, alleging without evidence that the Democrats are “trying to steal the election.”
Biden seemed to anticipate that rhetoric from Trump. The president for weeks has baselessly sown doubts about mail-in voting.
“It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election,” Biden said. “That’s the decision of the American people.”
Supporters had gathered in downtown Wilmington for a drive-in election night gathering at the same venue where the former vice president spoke during the Democratic National Convention this summer. Blasts of honking horns greeted Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, as they appeared on stage for the drive-in event, a hallmark of the Biden campaign in the age of the coronavirus.
Shortly before Biden appeared, the AP called Florida, Iowa and Ohio for President Trump. Democrats had hoped to bring Florida back into the Democratic fold after Barack Obama won it twice and Trump carried it in 2016. Iowa and Ohio were seen as more of a reach, but Biden campaigned in both states in recent weeks, amid promising poll numbers.
Biden said he’s feeling confident about Arizona and said the campaign is still “in the game for ”Georgia” and is feeling good about Wisconsin and Michigan.
He also predicted, “We’re going to win Pennsylvania,” where the former vice president was born and a state he blanketed with campaign events.
It remains too early to call races in North Carolina and Georgia.
The so-called “blue wall” states in the Upper Midwest, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, also remain undecided. Those states have been signaling that it may take a day or more for results to be released, given that election officials there could mostly not begin processing mail ballots until Election Day.
“Keep the faith, guys, we’re going to win this,” Biden said, channeling a saying from his grandparents and exiting to a barrage of honking horns and the song, “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher).”
