Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are expected to address the public on Friday evening in Delaware, as the Democratic nominee has pulled ahead of President Trump in the critical battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania. Harris will speak before Biden.
Biden plans to make remarks even if news outlets have yet to project him the winner, according to people familiar with his plans.
Aides spent Friday making preliminary plans for him to speak again tonight on the presumption that he would be projected to have won over 270 electoral votes, the number needed to clinch the presidency. But now, an aide familiar with Biden’s planned remarks said he will speak out “not to declare victory but to give the kind of update he’s done previously — with even more enthusiasm.” The former vice president has expressed confidence that he will ultimately win the race in previous brief remarks.
CBS News projects Biden currently has 253 electoral votes — 17 short of the 270 he needs to win. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, that would bring him to 273. Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, would bring his total to 269. Biden is also likely to win Arizona and Nevada, CBS News reports.
How to watch Biden and Harris’ remarks:
- What: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris deliver remarksDate: Friday, November 6, 2020Time: Friday nightLocation: DelawareHow to watch: Live on CBSN in the player above or on your mobile streaming device
Biden delivered brief remarks on Wednesday and Thursday, but Harris has not yet spoken publicly. If elected, Harris would be the first woman vice president, as well as the first Black and Asian-American vice president, making her victory historic.
The Democratic nominee has expressed confidence that he will prevail in the election. In remarks to reporters on Wednesday, Biden said that “when the count is finished, I believe that we will be the winner.”
Meanwhile, President Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that Democrats are attempting to steal the election, and falsely said that illegal votes are being counted. The Trump campaign has launched lawsuits in an attempt to interrupt vote counts in several states.
Tim Perry, Bo Erickson and Nikole Killion contributed to this report.