US President Donald Trump has pledged to continue his legal fight as his Democratic rival Joe Biden who inches closer to 270 votes he needs to win the presidency.
“We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House on Friday.
The statement says the campaign’s legal battle will begin Monday: “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”
“I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands,” Trump added.
This comes as Biden expanded his narrow leads over Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia on Friday three days after polls closed, holding a 264 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner.
Also a statement the president’s campaign released Friday said Trump would continue to press his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
“From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn.”
“We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government.”
Supporters of Biden danced in the streets outside a ballot-counting center in Philadelphia Friday, while several hundred supporters of Trump raised premature chants of “We won!” outside a counting center in Detroit.
Trump backers brought their rifles and handguns with them to rallies there too. On Thursday, two men believed to be Trump supporters were found with handguns and arrested.
“There have been a lot of phony votes that have been counted,” Gary Smith said, echoing the baseless claims made by Trump.
“We will continue with lawsuits, protests, who knows, maybe civil disobedience,” he said.
Meanwhile, Biden supporters cheered for poll workers and chanted “count every vote”.
Sean Truppo, a Biden supporter said, “My daughter was born under Trump and I wanted her to witness the end of Trump.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [Democrat] said Friday that Biden would win the race, repeatedly referring to him as “president-elect.”
“This morning, it is clear that the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket will win the White House,” Pelosi said in her first press briefing since the Nov. 3 election.
She went on to say that the outcome was “imminent,” and could be declared “momentarily.”
“It’s a happy day for our country,” Pelosi said, adding, “President-elect Biden has a strong mandate to lead.”
She also formally announced she would run for House speaker again as the House Democratic majority is shrinking and moderates are blaming the progressive agenda for their losses.
“Our vision for the next two years must be built on the success of Democratic House Majority in the 116th Congress, and to harness the extraordinary visions, values and vibrancy of our Caucus to secure the progress that the American people deserve,” Pelosi wrote in the letter, obtained by Fox News.
She continued, “In that spirit, I am writing to request your support to be re-elected as Speaker. I do so with the utmost respect for the diverse viewpoints in our Democratic Caucus, the gravity of this role the urgency of the challenges ahead. I also do so with the great joy and appreciation to so many of you who have already offered your support.”