By Miya Tanaka,
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden moved closer to securing the White House on Friday as he widened his lead over President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia, two must-win states for the Republican in his bid for re-election.
The race remained too early to call as vote counting continued after polls closed Tuesday night, leaving Biden to stop short of declaring victory as he addressed the country late at night.
"We don't have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers tell us....a clear and convincing story. We're going to win this race," the 77-year-old former vice president under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama said from his home state of Delaware.
He also emphasized that he and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris are already stepping up preparations to tackle the serious problems the country is facing ranging from the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice to climate change.
Referring to the more than 74 million voters who cast ballots for the pair, Biden said, "They've given us a mandate for action on COVID (pandemic), the economy, climate change, systemic racism. They made it clear. They want the country to come together, not continue to pull apart."
In the race to secure 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes, Biden had so far won states giving him a total of 253 while Trump's wins put him at 214, according to many U.S. media organizations. Biden said he was on track to secure over 300 electoral votes.
Trump, seeing his earlier edge diminish in Pennsylvania and Georgia, which carry a combined 36 votes, maintained his claim that the election was being rigged through "illegal" ballots, alluding to mail-in ballots that he has baselessly criticized as vulnerable to voter fraud.
"We have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn," Trump, 74, said in a statement.
"We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government," he said. "I will never give up fighting for you and our nation."
Authorities have so far not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
Trump has been laying the groundwork for months to delegitimize an unfavorable electoral outcome, questioning the surge in mail-in ballots as more people, especially Democrats, sought a safer way to vote amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The president has also made an issue of mail-in ballots received after election day, a practice allowed in some states such as Pennsylvania as long as they bear an election-day or earlier postmark.
Mailed ballots, which take longer to process than in-person votes, have proven to be heavily in favor of Biden, helping him to eventually overtake Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia. But Georgia's secretary of state said he expects a recount given the tight margin.
Biden also maintains a lead in two other battleground states, Nevada and Arizona. Of the five undecided battleground states, Trump is only leading in North Carolina.
A few media outlets have projected that Arizona has gone to Biden, adding 11 more votes to his lead, but the Trump campaign has disputed that call.
If Trump is defeated, he will be the first U.S. president to fail to secure re-election since George H.W. Bush in 1992 and only the fourth in the past century.
A losing presidential candidate typically concedes shortly after the outcome is known. But in the run-up to the election, Trump refused to commit to a smooth transfer of power if he is defeated.
While the country awaits the outcome of the election, the novel coronavirus -- which Trump contracted about a month before -- has continued to spread, with daily cases hitting a new record high of 121,888 on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
During his campaign, Biden accused Trump of failed leadership in dealing with the country's health crisis that has cost the lives of more than 236,000, higher than any other country.
In yet another blow to the Trump administration, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tested positive for COVID-19, U.S. media reported Friday, making him the latest Trump aide to contract the virus.
Related coverage:
Biden edges closer to White House as Trump casts doubt on results
Biden edges closer to take White House, flips 2 key Midwest states
Trump wins key battleground, but race with Biden too early to call
