CHICAGO – CNN has projected Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the 46th President of the United States.
It came shortly after 10:30 am after a new batch of ballots came in from Philadelphia, increasing Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania by a few thousand votes. Biden’s lead stretched to a 30,000 vote lead against President Trump in Pennsylvania, which holds 20 electoral votes, which brings Biden’s totals to 273.
The projection came less than an hour after President Trump, dressed to golf, tweeted from his motorcade that he “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” The tweet drew a disclaimer to be added to the post by Twitter: “Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted.”
“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not.I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.” Biden said in a statement shortly after the announcement.
CNN called the race less than an hour later. With the project win, Kamala Harris will become the first female Vice-President in the history of the United States.
Trump is projected to loose both the electoral and popular vote, where Biden leads by over 4 million votes.
The race was called Saturday morning after four days of votes being tallied through mail in voting, which increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden leads votes still being tallied in Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada as well.
Biden addressed the Nation late Friday night in an address, giving American insights into what to expect from a Biden Administration.
“Yesterday, Senator Harris and I held meetings with groups of experts on the public health and economic crises this country is facing,” Biden said Friday. “The pandemic as you know is is getting more worrisome all across the country. Daily cases are skyrocketing, and it is now believed that we could see spikes as many as 200,000 cases in a single day.”
More than 132,700 COVID cases were announced Friday in the U.S. It’s also the fourth straight day America reported over 1,000 COVID related deaths.
President-Elect Biden is expected to make an address Saturday evening.
