Trump attacks legitimate vote-counting efforts and claims fraud without basis

Presidential election results 2020

By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Mahtani and Amanda Wills, CNN

Updated 2:44 p.m. ET, November 23, 2020
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2:54 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Trump attacks legitimate vote-counting efforts and claims fraud without basis

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

Source: Pool
Source: Pool

President Trump attacked legitimate vote-counting efforts in remarks from the White House early Wednesday, suggesting attempts to tally all ballots amounted to disenfranchising his supporters.

"Millions and millions of people voted for us," Trump said in the East Room. "A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people."

His remarks were laced with misleading statements and outright falsehoods and amounted to an assault on the Democratic process. He insisted that states where vote tallies currently show him leading should be called in his favor, despite significant outstanding votes yet to be counted.

He said he was preparing to declare victory earlier in the evening.

"We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off," he said.

Trump baselessly claimed a fraud was being committed.

"This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country," Trump claimed.

"Frankly we did win this election," he said, despite millions of votes still outstanding.

Saying he would go to the US Supreme Court, Trump said he wanted "all voting to stop."

2:45 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Pennsylvania Democratic senator says he thinks Biden will win the battleground state

From CNN's Clare Foran

Sen. Bob Casey gestures while standing with his mother, Ellen Harding Casey, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, November 3.
Sen. Bob Casey gestures while standing with his mother, Ellen Harding Casey, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, November 3. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey projected confidence about Joe Biden’s chance of winning the key battleground state in an interview with CNN early Wednesday morning.

Asked what he thinks Biden’s odds are in the fiercely contested state, Casey said, “I think they’re good. I think he’s going to win. I think it’ll be really close.”

“I think if he wins Pennsylvania, which I think he will, and then he wins Michigan and Wisconsin, then it’s over. You win those three states that were lost last time, then it’ll be over,” Casey said.

Donald Trump won all three states in 2016, dealing a major blow to Democrats in the last presidential election.

As for the battle for the Senate, where Democrats have hoped to take back control from Republicans, who currently hold the majority, Casey described the fight as “difficult,” and said, “I just hope for the best as we get the final results.”

2:45 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

What we know about the pace of counting in Wisconsin

From CNN's Casey Tolan and Caroline Kenny

There are still plenty of uncounted ballots in Wisconsin, and many of the local officials say they’ll wrap up in the next few hours.

Here's what we know:

Milwaukee County, the state's most populous, Democratic stronghold:

All in-person, Election Day ballots have been counted, a spokesperson for the county clerk’s office told CNN. The county is still waiting on 169,341 early and mail ballots from the city of Milwaukee, which are expected to be done around 4 a.m. ET. Also outstanding are a total of about 75,000 ballots from four other suburban municipalities within the county – Oak Creek, Franklin, Wauwatosa and West Allis, which are expected to come in before the city of Milwaukee.

Brown County, includes Green Bay:

All municipalities are fully reporting except for Green Bay. Currently, no results from Green Bay are reporting, Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno told CNN. They are not going to report results from Green Bay until they finish the absentee count, then they will report the absentee and the in-person Election Day results together all at once. That will likely be between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET. They don't have a total ballot number for how much is outstanding but it's about 32,000 absentee plus more in-person.

Waukesha County, Milwaukee suburbs and a typical GOP stronghold:

Waukesha County Clerk Meg Wartman told CNN that all results will likely be reported by 2 a.m. ET, though that time has come and gone already. They are still waiting for about 40,000 absentee votes from Brookfield and New Berlin.

Outagamie County:

Now at 93% of expected vote, despite the problems CNN reported earlier with them having to transfer data from about 13,500 misprinted ballots to new ballots.

Dane County, includes Madison, a Democratic stronghold:

Dane is now completely done counting, according to a tweet from clerk Scott McDonell.

Rock County:

The county is totally done counting, the clerk told CNN.

2:21 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Biden ally on state of the race: "Still rather be us than them"

From CNN's MJ Lee

We heard Joe Biden say that the campaign feels “good about where we are.” That wasn’t spin. As we head into the early hours of the morning after Election Day, the Biden camp is cautiously optimistic.

As one Biden ally put it – “Still rather be us than them.” Put simply, the Biden campaign still believes they’ve got a more realistic path to 270 at this point than Trump does.

To be clear, this certainly hasn’t panned out to be the anywhere near the best case, sweep scenario that some on team Biden had dared to fantasize about – Florida is gone; Ohio is gone; Texas is gone. All three are states that Biden had made a push for in the end, even knowing that they would be very competitive or reaches.

But as Biden himself said, the campaign is very much still counting on and feeling good about states like Pennsylvania, and counting on the "Blue Wall" states to come through for them. They also believe they are in the game in Georgia – a win there, of course would be huge.

Bottom line: Team Biden believes that they are on track to win this election. It is just anybody’s guess when that official call will actually come.

2:10 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

It's just after 2 a.m. ET: Here's where things stand in the race to 270.

President Trump picked up Iowa and Texas, and Joe Biden carried Rhode Island, CNN projects.

Based on CNN's current projections, Biden now has 220 electoral votes while Trump has 213 electoral votes.

Here's the latest look at where things stand:

Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

2:09 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Trump will speak soon from the White House

Source: Pool
Source: Pool

President Trump is expected to speak soon from the East Room in the White House.

He tweeted earlier that he would be speaking.

2:04 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

The single electoral vote Biden won in Nebraska could be significant

From CNN's Josiah Ryan

The entrance to a polling station at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday.
The entrance to a polling station at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday. Nati Harnik/AP

The single electoral vote Joe Biden captured in Nebraska could be significant as votes from the midwestern states and Pennsylvania come in, said CNN's John King.

Noting that the one electoral vote is Biden's only flip on the map from 2016 so far, King pointed out that in a race as close as this one, every vote can be crucial. 

"When you have a race that shapes up to be this close every one counts," said King. "So you'll take it if you get it."

CNN's John King explains why:

1:37 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

CNN Projection: Trump wins Montana

President Trump will win Montana, CNN projects.

There are three electoral votes at stake in Montana. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.

Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.

1:34 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

CNN Projection: Biden wins 1 electoral vote in Nebraska, Trump wins total of 4 electoral votes

Joe Biden will win one electoral vote in Nebraska, and President Trump will win an additional vote, giving him total of four out of five votes.

There are five electoral votes at stake in Nebraska. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.

Nebraska allows electoral votes to be split. In Nebraska, two of five electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide vote. One electoral vote goes to the winner in each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts.

Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.