PANDEMONIUM

Trump Plans to Declare Victory if It Looks Like He’s ‘Ahead’ Tuesday Night: Report

Three sources familiar with the matter say he will declare victory, even if it will take days to count mail-in ballots in key states like Pennsylvania.

President Trump has plans to declare victory on Tuesday night if it appears he’s “ahead,” reports Axios, even if large numbers of votes are not yet counted in critical swing states like Pennsylvania, whose state law expressly prohibits the counting of mail-in votes before Election Day. In private, Trump has reportedly described plans to walk up to the podium come election night and say he has won. Axios also reports senior campaign officials are more optimistic about Trump's chances of winning, particularly in Wisconsin, where officials thought they had little chance of victory just a few weeks ago. In response, President Trump denied that he’d declare an early victory, per CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins—though he added, “I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election...We’re going in the night of—as soon as the election is over—we’re going in with our lawyers.”