Trump launches a new spate of unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud

President Trump broke cover to play golf Saturday morning after firing a barrage of angry tweets as Joe Biden neared White House victory and made a number of baseless claims, including that tens of thousands of mail-in votes "Illegally" had been handed in. Since they arrived after 8 pm on election day, hundreds of thousands more should not be taken into account as it was not observed that they were counted and that he had won "a lot".

Biden is now close to victory, with leads in all four key swing states still in play. The country and the world are waiting for results from Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia to determine who will be the next president.

States will continue to count the last of their mail-in votes and what are known as the split votes, which are ballot papers that require further investigation due to errors such as incorrect data or mismatched signatures. If Biden wins Pennsylvania today – where an update is imminent – he would have enough votes for the electoral college to win without any of the other states. If he won Arizona and Nevada together, he would get the win.

News networks, which typically hold elections within 24 hours of polls complete, are resisting because the race is so close and so much of it is competitive.

Refusing to accept that the results so far have been legitimate, Trump has vowed to contest them.

On Saturday morning, he tweeted that his followers were forbidden to watch the vote count in some of the major swing states, even though they said "Stop the Count!" and that officials "covered windows" to block their view and forbid them to monitor the process.

He also promised a "big" press conference in Philadelphia with the vote count continuing, where he said his lawyers would be present and then leave the White House in casual clothes.

While in the car, he tweeted a link to a Breitbart story about a "bug" in the vote counting software and then said, "I won this election many times over!" Shortly thereafter, he arrived at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.

Trump has not yet provided any evidence to support his claims. His campaign has vowed to file lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada to argue the results cannot be trusted, and he is calling for a recount in Wisconsin.

Overnight, faith seemed to wane among Trump's allies, telling him to allow the race.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham prepared viewers for the likelihood he'd lost.

She said: "Right now it is time to capitalize on our gains, learn from our defeats and confidently build one of the greatest political movements of the past 100 years," she said.

She said a Trump defeat does not mean that the "America First movement" is over, but that "President Trump's legacy will only grow in importance if he focuses on moving the country forward."

Donald Trump Jr., who earlier this week told his father to "fight to the death" and urged fans not to give up at a rally, posted a photo of the couple on Instagram in the Oval Office, which he had captioned : "Thank you for always fighting so hard for America, Papa. It is an honor to be with you in this fight."

It was a low note from the angry rally at which he said America had become a "banana republic" that needed to be reclaimed.

The Wall Street Journal – which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch – published a statement from its editorial staff asking Trump to admit.

If Mr. Biden has 270 electoral college votes by the end of the census and litigation, President Trump will have a decision to make.

"We hope that in this case he will give in with dignity," they said.

As it is:

• Biden has only 17 votes before winning the presidency, which means he can be declared the winner in two ways.
• If he wins Pennsylvania he'll get 20 votes and he won't need Arizona or Nevada anymore. But if he wins Arizona by 11 votes on the electoral college and Nevada by 6 votes, he won't need Pennsylvania anymore.
• It's likely that Biden could win once the call is made to Pennsylvania, where he currently leads Trump with more than 28,000 votes.
• He has a 0.4% lead with 49.6% of the total vote of the state, compared to 49.2% of Trump. The Associated Press is waiting for a candidate to have a 0.5% lead to call a race. Anything below this difference would require a recount under state law.

Biden gave a speech in his home state of Delaware on Friday evening. He never mentioned Trump directly, but he presented a drastic change of tone, saying that the "purpose of our policies is not total, relentless warfare".

In its editorial on Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal said Trump had "achieved a lot" since 2015.

& # 39; He has accomplished a lot since descending that Trump Tower escalator in 2015, including his historic first win and a strong re-election performance when he should lose in defeat. We would hate it if this legacy was ruined by refusing to accept the normal transfer of power.

"But if there is defeat, he will best serve himself and his country by respecting America's democratic traditions and leaving office with dignity."

Trump has given no indication that he wants to admit. He spent Friday night angrily tweeting a series of fraud conspiracies, and before Biden began his address had tweeted, "Joe Biden shouldn't be wrongfully claiming the office of president. I could make that claim too. Legal proceedings are just beginning! & # 39;

During the evening, he reported attacks on Fox News calling Arizona at the start of the race, claiming that postmarked postal ballot papers were counted after election day, and suggested that election observers be excluded from watching the counts.

In his speech on Friday night, Biden urged patience but said he was confident he would win.

Formerly his campaign trolled President Trump as it became increasingly clear that the Democratic candidate would be the next President of the United States.

As we said on July 19th, the American people will make this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting intruders from the White House, ”said Andrew Bates, spokesman for the Biden campaign, on Friday.

In his address, Biden added, “No, the purpose of our policies, the work of our nation, is not to ignite the flames of conflict, but to solve problems, guarantee justice, fair everyone and improve the life of our people. & # 39;

“We may be opponents – but we are not enemies. We're Americans, ”he went on. However, that did not prevent him from boasting of victories.

"One of the things I'm especially proud of is how well we've done across America," he told a host of socially distant reporters and staff. & # 39; We'll be the first Democrat to win Arizona in 24 years. We will be the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years. & # 39;

"And we rebuilt the Blue Wall in the middle of the country that collapsed four years ago: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin."

Biden didn't answer questions about whether Trump, who said his opponent couldn't unjustifiably claim the office of president, should admit.

However, a spokesman for his campaign said: "The United States government is perfectly capable of escorting intruders from the White House."

Biden said he expected a result in Saturday's presidential competition.

"I hope to speak to you tomorrow," he said.

He advised patience as the vote continues and anxious Americans wait to find out who their next president will be.

“I know it's very slow to see these voting results on TV. Never forget, the numbers aren't just numbers, they represent votes and voters. They exercised this basic right to be heard.

“What is becoming clearer by the hour is the record number of Americans of all races, creeds, and religions who have made the move. It gave us a mandate to take action on COVID, the economy, climate change and systemic racism. They made it clear that they want the country to come together and not move further apart. The people spoke, ”he said.

Ironically, minutes after he finished his speech, it was revealed that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows would be the last person to test positive for COVID-19.

The 61-year-old Meadows was last at the White House on Thursday, CNN reported.

It would, in theory, be critical to a transfer of power, but Biden stated that he and Harris started the transition process without saying whether they had received any help from the Trump administration.

“We don't wait to get the job done. We're starting the process, ”he said.

And he vowed to bring the country together.

Biden said he thinks people are tired of politics being so evil.

“No matter who you voted for, I'm sure of one thing: the vast majority of the 150 million Americans who voted want the vitriol out of our politics. We won't agree on many issues, but at least we can agree to be courteous with one another. We have to leave anger and demonization behind. It is time for us to come together as a nation to heal. It won't be easy, but we have to try.

“My responsibility as President will be to represent the whole nation, and I want you to know that I will work as hard for those who voted against me as I will for those who voted for me. That's the job. That's the job. It's called Due Diligence for All Americans, ”he said.

Trump has yet to respond to Biden's remarks, but has fired a series of retweets on Twitter backing up his claims of electoral fraud and fraud when his opponent spoke.

Among the tweets was one from Tom Bevan, co-founder of Real Clear Politics, who criticized Fox News' early call in Arizona, where Biden is currently leading by a narrow margin.

Bevan called the move & # 39;completely unnecessary, ”while pointing out how they waited for hours for a call in Florida when Trump was up three points.

Trump also retweeted a clip of Jim Jordan, the Ohio congressman re-elected Tuesday, the Fox News "Sean Hannity said the situation was" worse than we thought ".

Jordan said the people of Pennsylvania would "allow votes to come in after the day" – something the courts decided could happen, provided the ballots were stamped by election day.

He also railed on the issue of "transparency" and claimed – without evidence – that election observers like Dave Bossie were being asked to leave the company.

"This is the first time in history that a party systematically tries to win the election after the election and it has to be stopped."

Trump tweeted: "Incredibly said Jim!"

He also tweeted earlier: “I got such a big head start in all of these states late into election night, only to see the clues miraculously fade away over the days. Perhaps these clues will come back as our legal process progresses! & # 39;

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had ordered that all late postal ballots in Pennsylvania should be counted separately as Joe Biden continued to gain momentum.

All Pennsylvania counties are required to temporarily separate ballots received after 8 p.m. on election day by order of Judge Samuel Alito on Friday night after Republicans appealed to exclude those votes from the total.

Trump's election campaign had filed a motion to block a state Supreme Court decision that allowed election officials to count postal ballot papers that were postmarked by Tuesday election day and served by Friday.

Alito agreed on Friday to discuss these voices. It did so after Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar already directed the county boards to separate them, which limited Trump's ability to claim the court order as a victory.

Most votes are believed to be in favor of Biden, and Republicans say they should be disqualified under Pennsylvania state law. The concern is that if they get mixed up with other ballots any attempt to disqualify them will become impossible.

Whether or not those ballots are ultimately counted, however, doesn't seem to have any bearing on who gets the state's 20 electoral votes, with Biden leading the way by 28,877 votes from midnight.

By late Friday there were about 89,000 postal ballots in Pennsylvania, the majority in Allegheny County, the state's second largest county.

In addition, there may be tens of thousands of tentative ballots that have yet to be tabulated, although the exact number has remained unclear. These ballot papers are counted after officials verify their eligibility to enroll.

Allegheny could bring Biden to 270 votes. The county includes Democratic strongholds of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, where it holds 80.78% of the vote.

Biden's plans to reach out to the nation had sparked an angry tweet from Donald Trump sent from the White House, where he allegedly spent the day angry watching TV and talking to confidants.

His legal path to question the election was unclear, and his mathematical path to retain power seemed almost complete. I could make that claim too. Legal proceedings are just beginning! & # 39;

Then he tweeted – apparently somewhat plaintively – that his initial "big leads" had disappeared, which election observers had predicted weeks before the election.

“I had such a big head start in all of these states late into election night, only to see the clues miraculously disappear as the days went on. Perhaps these clues will come back as our legal process progresses! & # 39; he tweeted.

But the Pennsylvania and Nevada polls showed Biden's leadership – not Trump's increase.

At the White House, Trump's inner circle was trying to figure out how to tell him he had lost while defiantly vowing to pursue legal challenges to the Count in a number of states, claiming he was fighting for "electoral integrity" of the day After an extraordinary 17-minute tirade claiming he was the victim of a "conspiracy", the counting of the votes was part of the "fraud".

Biden's campaign prepared an outdoor stage at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware for a prime-time address and warned broadcasters to prepare for a speech.

Close supporters of the Vice President were advised on Friday to drive to the Chase Center in their vehicles. The Democrats have held major drive-in cinema-style events to ensure adequate social distancing of their crowds. Fireworks took place in the Chase Center parking lot as part of his campaign after he accepted the Democratic nomination during the Democratic National Convention, where key speeches were moved to Wilmington due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the race for the former vice president is scheduled, the event is expected to look the same.

The country and the world are waiting for election results from three states; Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona.

One reason for the intensified race is that Pennsylvania law does not allow election officials to process postal ballots until election day.

It's a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden's favor after Trump claimed for months – without evidence – that the postal vote would lead to widespread electoral fraud.

There is a chance the race will not be decided for days and about 102,000 ballots remain to be counted, according to CNN. If there is a difference of less than half a percentage point between Biden and Trump's vote, state law stipulates that a recount must be carried out.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said earlier Friday it was time for Trump to "put on his big boys pants" and admit.

Democrats had long viewed Pennsylvania as part of their "blue wall" – a trifecta that includes Wisconsin and Michigan – that had served as a bulwark in presidential elections for years. In 2016, Trump won each time by less than one percentage point.

Claims to be the state's favorite son, Biden, born in Scranton, has long taken up the idea that he represented neighboring Delaware as the "third senator" of Pennsylvania during his decades. He has also fought extensively in the state from his home in Delaware.

Trump cannot win in Pennsylvania alone. With 214 votes in the electoral college, he would still have to pick up either Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona or Nevada – the other four states where a result has yet to be officially confirmed.

The previous Thursday, Kathy Boockvar told CNN's Jake Tapper, “I think there are about 550,000 odd – you know, plus or minus – ballots that are still being counted today.

& # 39; Some of these may have already been counted but not uploaded yet. But yes, they come in. We're getting 10,000 here, 20,000 here, counties are angry at work.

Pennsylvania said it will continue to count postal votes through Friday as long as they are postmarked November 3rd.

Meanwhile, Trump had sued Pennsylvania to undermine the returned election result.

The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh voting was suspended on Thursday due to the legal battle.

A judge intervened and rejected the federal application.

The Trump campaign had a brief legal victory in Pennsylvania Thursday when a judge ruled ballot observer watched officials count ballots within six feet.

Representatives from both campaigns were in the room to watch the counts, but at a greater distance due to the coronavirus. A district judge approved the Trump campaign, but the state's Supreme Court rejected it.

The situation in Pittsburgh had been aggravated by approximately 30,000 outstanding ballots, with a salesman sending the wrong ballots to voters and having to reissue new ballots with the correct races.

Poll workers had to check these ballots to make sure people didn't vote twice. If they sent in the wrong ballot, they would not vote in races for which they were not eligible.

They weren't allowed to be counted until Friday, when Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh sits, swears on a special panel to review those ballots as required by law.

Trump's legal team has filed lawsuits on several fronts – to try to curb the flow of presumably pro-Biden postal ballot papers into the system and to enforce better access for observers to presumably dispute more single ballot papers.

They scored a first victory Thursday morning, which former Florida Secretary of State Pam Bondi, a Trump supporter, wielded at a press conference.

The judgment of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania overturns a decision of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia. It will allow Trump watchers to "observe all aspects of the acquisition process within 6 feet while complying with all COVID-19 protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing."

On Twitter, Trump touted it as: "Great Legal Victory in Pennsylvania!"

But then the Pennsylvania Supreme Court knocked it down almost instantly when the Democrats appealed.

The reason for the appeal wasn't because of concern about the observation itself, experts said, but because Democrats said Republicans accepted the rules for observation before they went into effect.

They argue that changing the rules, once agreed, would pave the way for further changes.

That is not the end of the road for the Trump campaign. The big battle with a greater potential to affect the count could result in a challenge to an earlier Supreme Court decision allowing the state to count postal ballots received three days after polling day.

Conservative judges had indicated that there could be another hearing should these later-counted ballots prove decisive.

But a decisive victory for Biden with votes received before election day would undermine the need for the lawsuit – and Biden was with Trump's leadership with hundreds of thousands of ballots outstanding.

The Pennsylvania Democrats, aware of potential challenges and alarmed by reports that Republican-controlled lawmakers may seek to intervene, have later segregated postal ballots received to prevent the entire state outcome from being discarded.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General blew up the move on Thursday.

"This question is a matter of constitutional law," he said, noting that it was decided by the Supreme Court. "It was decided that these ballots and they be counted," he told CNN.

“We follow the law here in Pennsylvania. We count these legal votes, ”he said.