Donald Trump will reportedly declare a premature victory on election night if early results reveal that he’s “ahead,” Axios reports.
Three sources told the outlet that Trump will do so regardless of if there are still uncounted votes in battleground like Pennsylvania. Per the sources, Trump has reportedly discussed in private his plans to walk up to a podium to declare victory if he is indeed shown to be ahead.
In order for this to happen, he would have to either win or be ahead in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Arizona, and Georgia. Trump’s team is currently readying itself to deceitfully claim that mail-in ballots counted after Election Day is proof of fraud—mainly because these ballots will boost Democrats.
Experts say it’s probable that Trump will come out ahead on Nov. 3 in Pennsylvania, but that the results could significantly change after mail-in ballots are tallied over the next few days. According to the report, Trump’s team is preparing to make baseless allegations that Democrats will have “stolen” the election .
“This is nothing but people trying to create doubt about a Trump victory. When he wins, he's going to say so," the Trump campaign's communications director Tim Murtaugh told Axios,
State-by-state rules say that mail-in ballots which are totaled after Nov. 3 are as valid as in-person votes entered on Election Day. A lot of ballot counts won’t be completed by Tuesday night; and in Pennsylvania, for example, state law bars election officials from counting mail-in ballots before Election Day.
Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller anticipated that Trump “will be re-elected handily and no amount of post-election Democratic thievery will be able to change the results," per axios.
It could take days or weeks before we know which candidate won Pennsylvania—and if the race is close, the same could happen in other states, particularly since Americans broke the record for mail-in ballots this year.
On Sunday, Trump didn't even make an attempt to hide is plans for Election Day and the days that follow.
Here's how people reacted after learning about Trump's reported Election Day plans.
