Presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden is projected to defeat President Trump in the 2020 election and become the 46th president of the United States.
The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Biden on Saturday morning, four days after an Election Day that capped a bruising presidential race held amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Biden said he was “honored and humbled” by the results.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation,” he said. “It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
Mr. Biden was expected to deliver an address from his home state of Delaware Saturday evening.
His running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California, posted a video of herself congratulating Mr. Biden on the phone while she was apparently out for a jog.
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“We did it, we did it Joe,” she said. “You’re going to be the next president of the United States!”
Ms. Harris will become the first female vice president, and the first Black person to hold the job, if the vote totals hold.
Mr. Trump vowed that the election “is far from over,” saying that Mr. Biden is “rushing to falsely pose” as the winner.”
He said his campaign on Monday “will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”
The president said late Saturday on Twitter that he had received 71 million “Legal Votes.”
“The most EVER for a sitting President!” he said.
He complained on social media, “THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!”
The president was playing golf at his club in northern Virginia when the race was called for Mr. Biden. In a tweet Saturday morning, the president said, “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”
When Mr. Trump’s motorcade emerged from the golf club in midafternoon, demonstrators greeted him with Biden-Harris signs and one that proclaimed, “Pack your s—- and go.” There were also Trump supporters waving flags.
The president returned to the White House before 4 p.m., and aides announced that Mr. Trump would not be making any public appearances for the rest of the day.
Pro-Trump demonstrations were taking place across the country on Saturday, including a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. In Austin, Texas, people waving Trump/Pence banners and flags gathered outside the state Capitol complex.
At the White House, people jubilant over Mr. Biden’s projected victory streamed into the streets around Black Lives Matter Plaza on the unseasonably warm day to celebrate along a fence at Lafayette Park. Chants of “U.S.A.” rose from the crowd, and drivers honked car horns.
In cities from New York to Chicago, people surged into the streets to rejoice over the Democrat’s victory.
In a speech Friday night in Delaware, Mr. Biden didn’t officially declare victory but said the numbers were pointing toward a win for him.
“What’s becoming clear each hour is that a record number of Americans of all races faiths, religions, chose change over more of the same,” Mr. Biden said. “They have given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change, systematic racism.”
The AP awarded Pennsylvania and its 20 Electoral College votes to the former vice president, pushing him above the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
With 99% of the expected vote in, Mr. Biden had a 49.6% to 49.1% lead in Pennsylvania, a margin of about 34,000 votes.
Former President Barack Obama congratulated Mr. Biden, saying he “could not be prouder” of his former vice president. He also urged people who didn’t vote for the Democrat to “give him a chance,” saying the challenges ahead are daunting.
“We’re fortunate that Joe’s got what it takes to be president and already carries himself that way. Because when he walks into the White House in January, he’ll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has — a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril,” Mr. Obama said. “I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote. The election results at every level show that the country remains deeply and bitterly divided.”
Former President Bill Clinton said on Twitter, “America has spoken and democracy has won. Now we have a President-Elect and Vice President-Elect who will serve all of us and bring us all together. Congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on your momentous victory!”
There were still some questions as to whether Mr. Trump could catch up in Arizona, but Pennsylvania pushed Mr. Biden over the top regardless of what happened out west.
Mr. Biden sat at 290 electoral votes to Mr. Trump’s 214, according to the AP’s latest projections. The AP also called Nevada and its six electoral votes for Mr. Biden on Saturday.
Mr. Biden had a 50.5% to 47.7% lead over Mr. Trump in the national popular vote, a margin of more than 4 million votes, with counts still being tabulated from coast to coast.
“In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted,” Mr. Biden said. “Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.”
Despite Mr. Biden’s claims of a mandate, Democrats fell short in a number of high-profile U.S. Senate races and divided government could continue next year.
House Democrats were also projected to lose seats and barely hang onto their majority.
Mr. Biden’s popular vote margin is expected to increase in the coming weeks as deep-blue California tallies more of its votes, but margins in the battleground states that decided the race were razor-thin.
As of mid-day Saturday, Mr. Biden held a collective lead of fewer than 83,000 votes in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin, four states that total 57 electoral votes.
As Mr. Biden appeared to clinch the election, Mr. Trump said the process was not over.
“Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor,” the president said.
Pennsylvania statehouse Republicans had said Friday afternoon that as many as 100,000 provisional ballots still needed to be reviewed and that the process for those could stretch into next week.
“It’s my own personal belief that no results should be announced until the count is finalized,” said House Speaker Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County.
Early Friday, Mr. Biden overtook Mr. Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania as ballots from more heavily Democratic areas were counted.
Outstanding mail and absentee ballots have generally favored Mr. Biden in the key states, though Mr. Trump has gained ground in Arizona since Tuesday.
The president said on Twitter Friday that Mr. Biden should not “wrongfully claim the office of the President.”
The Trump campaign has initiated various election-related legal challenges in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan and has vowed to pursue a recount in Wisconsin.
The AP and multiple networks called Michigan and Wisconsin for Mr. Biden on Wednesday.
Those states, plus Pennsylvania, were critical flips for Mr. Trump in his 2016 win.
“We’ve rebuilt the blue wall in the middle of the country that crumbled four years ago: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin — the heartland of this nation,” Mr. Biden said Friday.
The Trump campaign said the AP and Fox News were too quick to project that Arizona’s 11 electoral votes would fall to Mr. Biden.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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