INTERNATIONAL - BIDEN CLAIMS US ELECTION VICTORY BECOMING THE 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE USA

JOE Biden dramatically sealed election victory today after finally taking Pennsylvania to end Donald Trump's four years in the White House.

Victory in the swing state put Biden firmly over the magical 270 electoral college vote mark with 273 after days of suspense in one of the most nail-biting races in US political history.

The former VP captured the 20 electoral votes from the crunch state – propelling him into the White House as the 46th President of the United States.

Biden fought back a deficit in several battleground states riding a huge wave in mail-in ballots which Trump branded "fraudulent" and repeatedly demanded counting be stopped.

The Republican firebrand accused his opponent of trying to “steal the election” after declaring victory prematurely on election night.

But just a few hours later the president woke up to discover his lead in several key states had been wiped out by a blue surge that gathered pace over the following days as the ballots were counted.

Biden took the lead in battleground states Georgia and Pennsylvania on Friday - which inched him closer to the Oval Office.

Last night, Biden gave a presidential-style speech from Delaware asking people to be more "civil with one another" amid ugly scenes with protesters clashing and gun-wielding mobs storming vote counts.

The Democrat said: "We may be opponents, but we're not enemies. We're Americans.

"We don’t have any more time to waste on partisan warfare."

Trump had repeatedly urged his supporters to vote in person and his base has tended to be more bullish in the face of coronavirus.

But Biden’s backers were more cautious and many opted to send their ballots in the post, causing the late surge.

The 2020 Election win came as:

• Biden has warned Americans against "partisan warfare"
• White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tested positive for Covid-19
• Republicans blast Trump for 'dangerous' vote fraud comments
• President claims "election is not over" as he plans victory rally
• Georgia announced it will recount votes
• Trump sensationally accused Biden’s campaign of carrying out a “fraud on the American public”, but failed to offer evidence for his claims.

On Thursday, the president said: “If you count the legal votes I easily win. If you count the illegal votes – they can try to steal the election from us.”

According to CNN journalist Jim Acosta, a campaign insider admitted the President's team has "nothing concrete" to back up their claims of "fraud."

Trump launched a barrage of lawsuits in key states to challenge the results forcing Georgia into a recount after Biden had wrestled back a slender lead.

But in the end it wasn’t enough for the President and the Democrat challenger was able to get across the line.

Biden seemed confident of victory throughout the nail-biting race, which dragged on for days as postal ballots continued to be received and counted.

But unlike his rival he held back from declaring himself the winner, saying only that he believed he would emerge victorious “when the count is finished”.

On Thursday, as Biden dramatically reversed Trump’s gains in Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania, fans chanted “President Biden” as he entered his campaign HQ.

The president-elect made history after securing the most votes of any presidential candidate ever, smashing Barack Obama’s 2008 record.

Biden landed more than 74million votes – beating Obama’s total of 69,498,516 by over four million.

This week also saw violence in Arizona as Trump supporters stormed a voting center, screaming "stop the steal."

Pictures and video showed armed MAGA supporters protesting the election results at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday night.

The Associated Press called the race in Arizona to Biden on Wednesday - despite mail-in ballots still being counted.

They made the call when 80 percent of the vote was counted but concluded that after analyzing the ballots that there were not enough for Trump to catch up.

In Detroit, Michigan, Trump fans were filmed screaming "stop the vote" at a counting site on Wednesday, as they tried to keep ballots from being tallied.

The tense scene came shortly before CNN  had projected a victory for Joe Biden in Michigan.

The Democrat managed to beat Trump, who had claimed victory before all of the votes were counted.

Trump addressed the nation in an extraordinary speech from the White House on Wednesday morning in which he called for "all voting to stop" and suggested his campaign would take any defeat to the Supreme Court.

Trump fumed there had been a "major fraud" - despite there being no evidence to suggest any problems with ballots.

He said: "We did win this election. This is a fraud on the American public."

Trump added: "This is a major fraud on our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner, so we’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop."

ON January 20, 2021, Inauguration Day will see Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris sworn in as president and vice president at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.

Visitors to the U.S. Capitol and the White House in October would have noticed preparations underway for the ceremony while Joe Biden and Donald Trump were campaigning.Low-flying helicopters were swooping around town as part of beefed-up security precautions.The Architect of the Capitol is currently busy constructing the inaugural platform from scratch.The platform traditionally holds more than 1,600 people, including the president and vice president, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and the outgoing president and vice president.Bleachers above the platform hold 1,000 further visitors.The view from the West Front stretches the length of the National Mall, where Americans from around the country gather to catch a glimpse of history.

He went on: "To me, this is a very sad moment. And we will win this. As far as I’m concerned, we already have won it."

His comments were immediately condemned by Biden's campaign as "outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect" and even Trump's Republican allies questioned his accusations.

Campaign insiders claim that Trump has not prepared a concession speech and has told allies that he has no intention of admitting defeat, reports CNN.

Today, with Biden set to be confirmed as the winner of the election, the Republican continued his combative rhetoric in a series of angry tweets.

He wrote: "Tens of thousands of votes were illegally received after 8 P.M. on Tuesday, Election Day, totally and easily changing the results in Pennsylvania and certain other razor thin states.

"As a separate matter, hundreds of thousands of Votes were illegally not allowed to be OBSERVED…

"..This would ALSO change the Election result in numerous States, including Pennsylvania, which everyone thought was easily won on Election Night, only to see a massive lead disappear, without anyone being allowed to OBSERVE, for long intervals of time, what the happened…"

via - THESUN