US election: Biden in touching distance of White House as Trump calls in the lawyers
Joe Biden is closing in on the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency as Michigan has now been widely called for the Democrat candidate.
The former Vice President is on at least 253 Electoral College votes, with some US broadcasters also calling Arizona for Biden, giving him 264 votes.
All he needs to do is win Nevada’s six Electoral College votes to win from here, however the state won’t begin counting again until tomorrow.
Biden also has a chance of winning Pennsylvania and Georgia, with many votes still to be counted from metropolitan areas in each state that usually swing Democrat.
Trump’s campaign has already begun to claim widespread voter fraud in a series of unfounded claims and will be making a series of legal challenges.
His only chance of winning legitimately is if he can flip Nevada and hold onto leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
He currently trails Biden by just 0.6 per cent, less than 8,000 votes, in Nevada, with 86 per cent of votes reported.
Trump has called Pennsylvania as a victory for him, despite at least 1m votes still to be counted.
The votes that are yet to be counted in Pennsylvania are mail-in and early ballots from places like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that will swing heavily Democratic.
Biden made an address in Delaware today calling for the country to come together.
“Power can’t be taken or asserted. It flows from the people,” he said.
“It is their will that determines who will serve as the President of this great nation. And their will alone.
“And now, after a long night of counting, it is clear we are winning in enough states to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. I am not here to declare that I have won.
“I am here to report that when the count is finished, I believe I will be the winner.”
Trump, meanwhile, has spent the day sending tweets questioning the validity of the election and claiming premature victory in states.
Last night he falsely claimed he had won the election and that the Democrats were trying to steal it.
The Trump campaign launched legal challenges to try and stop vote counting in the key states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, while they also claimed victory in Michigan which he did not win.
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani made a series of unfounded claims at a press conference today, including that the Democrats had carried out nationwide voter fraud.
“This is a concerted effort by the folks who run the Democrat party,” he said.
“You know these big city machines are crooked, you know that. Voter fraud is one of the biggest, because that’s how you keep your power.”