US election 2020 live: Trump in denial after hearing news Biden will replace him while at golf club
Latest updates on the US election as Joe Biden and Donald Trump race to 270 Electoral College votes.
Joe Biden projected to win the race for the White House and become the next president
Victory called after Biden projected to take Pennsylvania after days of counting
With five states yet to declare he is on 273 Electoral College votes – beyond the 270 required to win
Biden says he is ‘honoured and humbled’ and now is the time to ‘united and heal’
Kamala Harris is vice-president elect – the first black woman to take that role
Donald Trump was at Virginia golf club when news broke and issued statement saying election ‘far from over’
Biden expected to give victory speech tonight
Live reporting by Lucia Binding, Chris Robertson and Jimmy Rice
19:03
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris tweets…
This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.pic.twitter.com/Bb9JZpggLN
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 7, 2020
18:57
Rudy Guilani, on behalf of the president, speaks in Pennsylvania, about an “extremely troubling” situation.
Introducing people behind him, he says poll watchers will claim they could not watch any of the mail-in ballot counting.
He tells reporters that mail-in ballots were not inspected by poll-watchers.
“If you have nothing to hide with mail-in ballots, you will allow inspection,” he says.
Mr Guiliani claims that some of the ballots had the same handwriting on, and that several dead people had voted in the state.
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18:57
Biden’s first tweet as president-elect…
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. pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 7, 2020
18:56
Statement by president-elect Joe Biden – it’s time to unite and heal
“I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in vice president-elect Harris.
“In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.
“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.”
18:54
Keir Starmer congratulates Biden…
The Labour Party leader has reacted to Joe Biden’s win in the US presidential election.
He said: “Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as President of the United States of America.
“He ran a campaign on the values that we in the United Kingdom share – decency, integrity, compassion and strength.
“And I want to congratulate Kamala Harris on being elected vice-president, the first woman of colour to take that role.
“Their victory is one for hope and unity over dishonesty and division. Millions of Americans of all backgrounds and ages have come together to vote for a better, more optimistic future.
“This is also an important moment for the world.
“It is a chance to reassert America’s place as a force for good on the world stage. A nation that will work with Britain and other allies to defeat this pandemic and fight climate change.
“Joe Biden and the Democrats have always shared Labour’s values and the links between our two parties remain strong.
“I am looking forward to building on this and forging an even stronger relationship between the UK and the USA.”
18:50
Trump was on golf course in Virginia when news broke
18:49
Trump statement – This is not over
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed.
“The simple fact is this election is far from 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.
“In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.
“The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election.
“It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.
“So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”
18:44
‘Celebrations can begin for Joe Biden’
“It is the third time Biden has sought the presidency and at nearly 78, now we see him in that position that he sought for so long”, US correspondent Greg Milam says.
“This is a historic moment and a cause for real celebration.”
18:44
Who is the new president-elect of the United States?
At 78, Joe Biden will become America’s oldest president by the time of his inauguration in January.
He has been knocking around American politics for half a century, his political career beginning when Richard Nixon was in the White House and America was still sending men to the moon.
His ability to rise above that tragedy is well known by Americans.
After becoming the fifth youngest senator in US history in 1972, tragedy struck the Biden family just a few weeks later.
He lost his wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi in a car crash that also left their two sons, Hunter and Beau, badly injured.
Mr Biden suffered multiple aneurysms in 1988, surviving one nine-hour operation to save his life.
Then in 2015, one of those two boys he was so devoted to, Beau, died of brain cancer aged 46.
Mr Biden’s grief was one reason why he chose not to run against Mr Trump in 2016.
But he has said how his father frequently said: “Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.”
Some say is not the perfect candidate, having being accused of “handsiness” and with an at-times clumsy way with words.
His gaffes or “Bidenisms” are legendary and sometimes he has appeared decidedly out of touch.
But he was able to play on the strengths of a lifetime in public service to rout his Democrat rivals and present himself as the competent alternative to Donald Trump, a seasoned steady hand on the wheel in a time of plague and chaos.
-Agencies
