WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Joe Biden’s campaign says he will give a speech during prime time Friday.
The Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign announced that he would be making an address but did not say where or what he plans to say.
Biden is on the cusp of winning the presidency as he opens up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in several critical backgrounds.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
He has urged the public to be patient as vote counting continues. He was spending Friday at home in Wilmington, Delaware.
A stage set up since election night for a victory party outside the city’s convention center remained intact and has been secured for days by security personnel using high fencing and car barriers.
Biden campaign staffers who arrived in Wilmington for a victory party earlier in the week have been told to hold onto their hotel rooms until early next week.
LIKE BLACKAMERICAWEB ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE.
___
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path.
Read more:
— Trump predicts a ‘lot of litigation’ to decide the White House race
— ANALYSIS: Trump delivers a diatribe that’s both shocking and unsurprising
— EXPLAINER: States still in play and what makes them that way
— Trump and his Republican allies made significant inroads with Latino voters
___
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
12:55 p.m.
Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, says President Donald Trump is “damaging the cause of freedom” and inflaming “destructive and dangerous passions” by claiming, without foundation, that the election was rigged and stolen from him.
Romney lost to President Barack Obama in 2012 but was gracious in defeat. He is Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party and voted to convict him in Trump’s impeachment trial early this year.
The Utah Republican offered his assessment Friday on Twitter, saying that Trump is well within his rights to challenge the results through the legal remedies available to him. But Romney says Trump is “wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt, and stolen from him — doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world.”
Democrat Joe Biden is on the cusp of winning the presidency as he opens up narrow leads over Trump in several critical backgrounds.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
___
11:50 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden leads by more than 9,000 votes. The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor. Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
___
8:50 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
___
4:40 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the battleground, a must-win state for Trump that has long been a Republican stronghold. Biden now has a 917-vote advantage.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Thousands of ballots are still left to be counted — many in counties where the former vice president was in the lead.
An AP analysis showed that Biden’s vote margins grew as counties processed mail ballots cast in his favor.
There is a potential that the race could go to a recount. Under Georgia law, if the margin between Biden and Trump is under half a percentage point of difference, a recount can be requested.
READ MORE STORIES ON BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM:
