Roger Stone, President Trump’s convicted former campaign advisor, rushed Thursday to declare him the winner of the White House race as Democratic challenger Joseph R. Biden remained in the lead.
Stone prematurely asserted that Mr. Trump won the yet-to-be called White House race in a landslide victory, crediting what he called a “Herculean act of stamina and guile” on the president’s part.
The longtime Republican operative predicted the president will ultimately be found to have bested Mr. Biden in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania and Arizona where the results are uncertain.
Writing for The Gateway Pundit, a Trump-friendly blog, Stone also claimed the president won states where Mr. Biden had been called the winner or was ahead at the time his article was published.
“Donald Trump has staged the greatest political come back in American history and he will be reelected without Michigan, Wisconsin or Nevada, even though he won these states as well,” Stone wrote.
The race for the White House ended with polls closing across the country late Tuesday, but its outcome remains uncertain as state election officials continue to tally ballots cast by voters.
Mr. Biden has been projected by The Associated Press to have won Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona. The AP has not yet made a projection regarding the races in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
As of early Thursday afternoon, preliminary election results indicate Mr. Biden maintains a double-digit lead over Mr. Trump in the race to win the 270 electoral votes needed to become president.
Stone, 67, has close to Mr. Trump for decades prior to briefly serving on his 2016 election campaign. He was later indicted and convicted of seven felonies involving conduct related to the race.
A federal judge accordingly ordered Stone to spend 40 months in federal prison, but Mr. Trump intervened by commuting that sentence days before it was set to start.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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