Biden's Election Night Address Wasn't What We Expected

We admit it. Other than a few bumps in the road, most — if not all — of us are used to finding out who the next U.S. president will be before Election Day ends. But we also knew that thanks to the pandemic, it would take a while before all the mail in ballots would be counted, which is why Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden appeared in Wilmington, Delaware, not to concede or declare victory, but to ask for patience. He told watching supporters, "...your patience is commendable — we knew this was going to go long, but who knew it was going to go into tomorrow morning, maybe even longer."

He continued, "We feel good about where we are. I'm here to tell you. We believe we're on track to win this election. We knew because of the unprecedented mail-in vote that it was going to take us a while. We're going to have to be patient, until the hard work of tallying votes is finished. It ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted."

Biden finished his brief statement, saying, "I've said all along its not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare whose won the election; that's the decision of the American people." He then thanked all of his supporters, the poll workers, and canvassers who took part in the exercise (via CBS).

The slow count prompted President Trump to take to Twitter to accuse his rivals of trying to steal the election. "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!" That tweet earned a warning from Twitter, which marked it as having misleading information (via Reuters). It also earned a rebuke from GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger who responded by tweeting, "Stop. Full stop. The votes will be counted and you will either win or lose. And America will accept that. Patience is a virtue."

As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale tweeted: "Nobody is trying to steal the election. Votes are simply being counted. Some states, including deep-red Republican states, count ballots postmarked by Election Day even if they arrive afterward. This is entirely normal." States that are continuing their count of absentee and mail-in ballots include battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan (via CNBC).