Hello. Welcome to On Politics, your information to the day in nationwide politics. I’m Lisa Lerer, your host.Join right here to get On Politics in
Hello. Welcome to On Politics, your information to the day in nationwide politics. I’m Lisa Lerer, your host.
Join right here to get On Politics in your inbox each weekday.
ATLANTA — What the president of the US did tonight wasn’t difficult nevertheless it was gorgeous, even after 4 lengthy years of the politically extraordinary.
President Trump attacked democracy.
In his remarks tonight from the White Home, Mr. Trump lied concerning the vote depend, smeared his opponents and tried to undermine the integrity of our electoral system.
“In the event you depend the authorized votes, I win,” he mentioned, earlier than ticking off a litany of baseless claims about methods his marketing campaign had supposedly been cheated by his opponents, nonpartisan ballot staff and an unlimited conspiracy of know-how firms and massive enterprise.
However nothing is “rigged” or “stolen” or “unlawful.” Nobody is “doing quite a lot of dangerous issues.”
Donald Trump is solely shedding.
And he’s apparently determined to attempt to take our system down with him.
Joe Biden has been chopping into Mr. Trump’s lead, or increasing his personal, in three of the 4 states that may resolve the subsequent president: Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada. Notably, within the state the place Mr. Trump seems to be making positive aspects — Arizona — the president appears to take little difficulty with the vote depend.
The votes that Mr. Trump calls “late” and “unlawful” have been postmarked by Election Day, making them legitimate. In Pennsylvania, the Republican-led state legislature wouldn’t enable ballot staff to start out counting mail ballots till Election Day. So now, they’re being counted.
As a substitute of letting the method play out, the president is looking on election officers to cease counting ballots, probably disenfranchising tons of of 1000’s of voters. As James Baker, the previous secretary of state who led the Republican authorized and political workforce throughout the Florida recount battle in 2000, informed my colleague Peter Baker right now: “That’s a really exhausting determination to defend in a democracy.”
There’s additionally a practical query concerning the president’s allegations: If Democrats have been going to rig an election, why didn’t they do a greater job of it? After many Democrats all however predicted a landslide, the celebration has to date misplaced seats within the Home and faces a steep path to take management of the Senate. Mr. Trump touted these Republican victories in his feedback tonight.
On social media, his relations and allies have been calling for Republicans, like Senator Lindsey Graham, to assist the president’s claims — even attempting to make the problem an early litmus take a look at for the 2024 marketing campaign. (We haven’t even completed with 2020!) After all, Republicans who again Mr. Trump might be throwing into query the validity of their very own victories.
So with a couple of exceptions, they’ve largely returned to the place they usually undertake with the president: silence. However it might turn into more and more tough to remain quiet.
As he has for months, Mr. Trump indicated that he wouldn’t settle for the outcomes of the election and would encourage his supporters to do the identical — a harmful sport in an already heated political surroundings. And at the least a couple of voters are listening.
In Arizona, it’s exhausting for Carla Livak to consider the president might lose her state, the place supporters have turned out by the tens of 1000’s for his rallies, and the place automobile parades in his honor have stretched for miles.
“It’s simply exhausting to consider all the things is that this shut,” she mentioned. “I simply don’t consider that.”
The 70-year-old Tucson resident mentioned she thinks that there’s one thing suspicious occurring with vote counting.
“It does really feel like with large tech ganging as much as censor issues, that there are tentacles of energy which might be unseen,” she mentioned. “He has enemies which might be so large, it’s not out of the realm of chance.”
One factor is definite: Win or lose, Mr. Trump’s conspiracy considering, and its affect on his supporters, shall be a part of his legacy.
Hank Stephenson contributed reporting from Tucson.
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What’s occurring within the undecided states
Right here’s the most recent, as of 9 p.m., on the place issues stand within the remaining battleground states. For the most recent numbers, head to our outcomes pages.
GEORGIA
Electoral votes: 16
Trump leads Biden, 49.four % to 49.Three %, with greater than 98 % of the estimated vote in.
Hole: About 3,500 votes.
Remember: 1000’s of ballots are left to be counted in Georgia, an official with the secretary of state’s workplace mentioned Thursday afternoon. Most are in Democratic-leaning counties. The state goals to complete its depend by the tip of the day.
PENNSYLVANIA
Electoral votes: 20
Trump leads Biden, 49.eight % to 49.zero %, with about 94 % of the estimated vote in.
Hole: About 53,000 votes.
Remember: The state’s high election official mentioned late Thursday that the counties have been “nonetheless counting” and didn’t give a direct reply as to what number of ballots have been nonetheless excellent, estimating that it was “a number of hundred thousand.” She didn’t supply any timetable as to when counting within the state could be full. A lot of the votes but to be counted are in counties the place Mr. Biden is forward, together with Philadelphia, the state’s most populous county.
NEVADA
Electoral votes: 6
Biden leads Trump, 49.four % to 48.5 %, with 89 % of the estimated vote in.
Hole: About 11,000 votes.
Remember: Nevada has about 190,000 ballots nonetheless to be counted, the secretary of state mentioned Thursday afternoon. Ninety % of them are from Clark County, the place Mr. Biden at present leads by eight proportion factors. All the Election Day vote has been counted, leaving solely Democratic-leaning late mail and provisional ballots to be tabulated.
ARIZONA
Electoral votes: 11
Biden leads Trump, 50.Three % to 48.Three %, with 88 % of the estimated vote in.
Hole: About 57,000 votes.
To bear in mind: Mr. Trump must win about 60 % of the remaining votes to seize the state. Extra outcomes are anticipated to be launched Thursday evening.
NORTH CAROLINA
Electoral votes: 15
Trump leads Biden, 50 % to 48.6 %, with 95 % of the estimated vote in.
Hole: About 77,000 votes.
Remember: With most votes now tabulated, Mr. Biden would want to win about two-thirds of the rest to tug forward. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day shall be accepted till Thursday, Nov. 12.
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