Some Americans dance, others wield guns at vote-counting sites as
Biden's lead widens
Send a link to a friend
[November 07, 2020]
By Jarrett Renshaw, Michael Martina and Mimi Dwyer
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Joe Biden
supporters danced in Philadelphia's streets on Friday, while armed
backers of President Donald Trump in Phoenix shouted, "Stop the steal"
as a third day of post-election ballot counting brought the Democratic
former vice president closer to winning the White House.
In Detroit, several hundred supporters of the Republican president, some
carrying guns, raised premature chants of "We won!" outside a
vote-counting center for Michigan's largest city, despite news
organizations having called the state for Biden.
But Philadelphia took center stage as the most populous and ballot-rich
city in Pennsylvania - a must-win electoral prize for Trump even as
Biden surpassed the president on Friday in the state's vote count.
With 20 electoral votes up for grabs, Pennsylvania was the most
consequential of a handful of states where the outcome of Tuesday's
election was still too close to call, and many Philadelphians delighted
in parading past news cameras playing violins and trombones or dressed
in election-themed costumes.
Sean Truppo, 37, a social studies teacher, said he lit fireworks upon
awaking to news that Biden had overtaken Trump in the state's count
before putting his 4-year-old daughter in a stroller to join the crowds
outside the Philadelphia Convention Center.
"My daughter was born under Trump and I wanted her to witness the end of
Trump," he said.
Biden had amassed a lead of 253 to 214 in the state-by-state Electoral
College vote that actually determines the victor, according to Edison
Research. Winning in Pennsylvania would give Biden more than the 270
electoral votes needed for him to become the next president. He has
already won the popular vote by some 4 million ballots.
Weary from one of the most bruising presidential races in modern times,
millions of Americans have spent three days since polls closed on
Tuesday glued to round-the-clock news coverage of the slowing mounting
vote tallies, a process prolonged by a record torrent of mail-in
ballots.
Many sought distraction from the strain of prolonged uncertainty through
work, chores or exercise.
Some Trump supporters, taking a cue from the president, insisted
something must be wrong with any count showing Biden winning, and
brought rifles and handguns with them to rallies outside tabulation
centers in Detroit and Phoenix. Wearing "Make America Great Again" red
baseball caps and other pro-Trump garb, some fell to their knees in
public prayer.
"It's hard to believe that we all went to bed Tuesday night and Trump
was so far ahead and now he's behind," George Vosca, 72, a retired
Illinois government employee, said after driving an hour to join a
pro-Trump rally outside the Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison.
His wife, Marcia Vosca, also voted for Trump even as she acknowledged
his flaws. "The thing is, he's really a jerk," Vosca, 64, said of Trump,
her husband nodding emphatically in agreement. "But we can all relate to
being a jerk."
[to top of second column]
|
A person takes a picture of supporters of Democratic U.S.
presidential nominee Joe Biden holding a banner, at Black Lives
Matter Plaza near the White House after Election Day in Washington,
D.C., U.S., November 6, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
RAISED FISTS AND JEERS
Pro-Trump rallies organized using the social media hashtag #StopTheSteal
were being planned for Saturday in nearly 60 cities across six
battleground states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, which were
already called for Biden.
Most demonstrations on Friday were peaceful and relatively small,
though tensions sometimes flared.
In Detroit, a few anti-racism protesters rallying behind the Black
Lives Matter slogan entered an area cordoned off by police for Trump
supporters on Friday. Standing defiantly with fists in the air, a
group of Trump backers, including armed members of militia groups,
moved closer, jeering, before police intervened, leading the
anti-racism protesters elsewhere.
In Arizona, another closely contested state, a growing crowd of
several hundred protesters waving pro-Trump flags, some carrying
rifles, returned for a third day to the counting center in Phoenix,
Arizona's capital, where some 90,000 ballots from early voting in
Maricopa County remained to be counted as of Friday evening.
Right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who
addressed the Phoenix crowd on Thursday, was back briefly on Friday
morning to lead a faction of protesters into the street in chants of
"Arrest Joe Biden," while others cried out, "Stop the steal."
The size of the crowd grew to as many as 1,000, as sheriff's
deputies watched from the sidelines, allowing them to demonstrate
across four lanes of traffic.
Among the Trump supporters was Kota Bermudez, a 22-year-old driver
for online retailer Amazon, who said he was braced for
disappointment.
"I know he's kind of losing right now, especially in the
battleground states," he said. "But I'm hoping that with all the
legal things going on and all these mail-in ballots and so forth,
whether they're legal or whatnot — I just want this to be a fair and
free election."
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadephia, Michael Martina in
Detroit, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Mimi Dwyer in Phoenix,
Arizona; Writing by Jonathan Allen and Steve Gorman; Editing by Bill
Tarrant, Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|