Joe Biden on brink of victory in US presidential election

Name: Trump calls election a 'fraud' and Biden awaits full vote count as frustrated Americans protest
Uploaded: 2020-11-06T15:13:20.000Z
Duration: 2 min 45 s
Description: Trump calls election a 'fraud' and Biden awaits full vote count as frustrated Americans protest

President Donald Trump’s bid for re-election appears to fail as former vice-president Biden takes lead in key states of Georgia and Pennsylvania

Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, will make history as the first female US vice-president

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“Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience as well,” Joe Biden said in an address on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo: AFP

Finbarr BerminghamandRobert Delaneyin Washington

Published: 11:13pm, 6 Nov 2020Updated: 5:33am, 7 Nov 2020

Joe Biden was on the verge of being elected the 46th president of the United States on Friday morning after securing a series of stunning victories in key battleground states.

The former US vice-president had spent two days gnawing away at President Donald Trump‘s early leads in Tuesday’s voting in Georgia and Pennsylvania, with Biden the beneficiary as more mail-in ballots were counted. Postal voting surged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

As Friday unfolded, it became clear that the momentum was with the former vice-president, as Trump’s lead first in Georgia, then Pennsylvania evaporated, leaving Biden – who will turn 78 in two weeks – in position to become the oldest president in American history when he is inaugurated on January 20.

His running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, will also make history as the first female US vice-president.

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Trump calls election a 'fraud' and Biden awaits full vote count as frustrated Americans protest

Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania after vote counting in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh – the state’s Democratic strongholds – pushed the count into his favour. Pennsylvania would give him 273 Electoral College votes, three more than the 270 needed for victory in the Electoral College, and 284, assuming he has won Arizona, as some outlets have reported.