We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis is threatening our ability to keep producing the stories you've come to love. If you’re able, please consider making a monthly contribution to The Stranger.

The merch is ready. The votes are not.
The merch is ready. The votes are not. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Today and tomorrow, we're running Slog PM as a liveblog starting around noon. Circle back around for updates. If you head outside today, wear a mask.
BIDEN TIES TRUMP IN GEORGIA, LEAD NARROWS IN ARIZONA, GAINING ON TRUMP IN PENNSYLVANIA
6:45 PM

Trump won Arizona's Maricopa County's latest ballot drop of 73,000 by around 14 points. The race in The Grand Canyon State now stands at Biden with 50.1% of the vote and Trump with 48.5%. Biden is up by over 46,000 votes. Trump will need to maintain or surpass those numbers to win Arizona. Maricopa County officials are expected to release more results from the race early tomorrow.

However, the races in Georgia and Pennsylvania remain juicy. With Georgia's Clayton County results coming in, Biden is virtually TIED with that orange fuck, only trailing by 1,902 freaking votes at the moment. They are both at 49.4%. Votes continue to come in, so those percentages are shifting. Around 16,000 ballots are left to count in Georgia, leaving the door open to a Democratic surprise. Biden is behind 48,800 votes in Pennsylvania, but there are tons of ballots from liberal-leaning counties that have yet to be counted and could quickly push him to victory in the state.

VOTE COUNTING CONTINUES IN PHILLY DESPITE THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN'S BEST EFFORTS
5:00 PM

A federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed the Trump campaign's attempts to stop vote counting in Philadelphia. His team alleged that observers from their campaign were "unfairly barred from parts of the city's ballot-counting area inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center." New reporting reveals that Trump's observers admitted to the judge that they were let into the venue but not "given equal access or numbers as Democrats." Don't you love when a presidential campaign team acts like babies on the playground?

More from WHYY:

The federal judge seemed frustrated at times with arguments from the campaign.

“I’m sorry, then what’s your problem?” said [U.S. District Judge Paul] Diamond, a President George W. Bush appointee, after Trump lawyers conceded that observers had been admitted to the facility.

Diamond urged both parties to seek a resolution to the suit by agreeing to a set of mutually satisfactory rules for observation. They ultimately agreed that a fixed number of observers from each campaign — up to sixty — could be admitted.

The suit was dismissed without prejudice.

TRUMP SHOUTS LIES, GEORGIA ENTERS RECOUNT TERRITORY
4 PM

At around 6:50 PM at the White House, Trump stomped up to a podium and rambled off a litany of lies and dangerous accusations. Most responsible news stations cut away within a minute because his misinformation was incessant. (On MSNBC, Brian Williams called the speech "not rooted in reality.") Some of Trump’s falsehoods, lies, bad math, etc:
  • “I won Pennsylvania by a lot… Likewise in Georgia, I won by a lot. A LOT.” (No.)
  • “If you count the legal votes, I very easily win.” (No, not what it looks like.)
  • “We can’t allow anyone to silence our voters,” he said while trying to silence the votes of voters.
  • “There’s tremendous litigation going on.” (Uhhh.)
  • He called the polls “phony,” “fake,” “designed to keep voters at home,” and repeatedly called them “suppression polls.” (Fuck off.)
  • He called Detroit and Philadelphia “two of the most corrupt political places anywhere in our country.” (I refer to this guy.)

    On Fox News, the station fact-checked the speech for over ten minutes.

    While Trump was lying, Erie County in Pennsylvania and Chatham County in Georgia dropped some more ballots and things are looking hairy for Trump. VERY hairy for Trump. Biden won Erie County, bringing Trump's lead down to 75,000 votes in the state. Biden is also leading in Chatham County by 5,570 votes, bringing Trump within a hair of getting beat in the Peach State. Trump's lead in GA is estimated at "1/10th of 1 percent," making the state in recount territory.

    According to Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight, there are about 19,000 votes left to count in Georgia. Biden only needs to win them by 3,600 votes to nab all those sweet sweet Electoral College votes. We've got a stomachache from all this waiting! More to come.


    WELL, THIS'LL BE SOMETHING
    3 PM


    Last time we saw him, the President blatantly lied about winning the election. To perhaps no one's surprise, it does not look likely that he'll concede. From Politico:

    Trump and his aides have settled on a plan for him to take full advantage of his existing perch at the White House to look as presidential as possible, according to three people briefed on the strategy. He may fire a few Cabinet members and top aides, including FBI Director Chris Wray and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. He could sign a slew of base-pleasing executive orders. He might even resume his travel schedule. Meanwhile, Trump’s team is planning to mount even more legal challenges and cast evidence-deficient aspersions on the integrity of ballots.

    FINAL VOTES FROM FULTON COUNTY ARE IN
    2:10 PM

    Joe Biden is less than 10,000 votes away from jumping past Trump in Georgia. The much-watched Fulton County is all in, currently reporting 72% for Biden. There are still votes to count in the state, especially in the Atlanta and Savannah suburbs, although they will probably not come in until tomorrow. In Nevada, Nate Silver thinks that "if 90% of the remaining ballots are from Clark County, Nevada should be projected for Biden."
    Meanwhile, Fox News has not yet reversed its Biden call for Arizona, driving Trumpers wild.

    BIDEN ADDRESSES NATION, URGES PATIENCE AS WE COUNT THE VOTES
    1:20 PM

    As a Biden-Harris victory seems to inch closer to reality this afternoon, Joe Biden gave a brief speech in Wilmington, Delaware. He focused on the coronavirus and the patience it requires to count every vote.

    "In America, the vote is sacred. It's how people of this nation express their will," said Biden. "It is the will of the voters. No one, not anything else, that chooses the President of the United States of America."

    "Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience," he reiterated during his brief speech. "We continue to feel very good about where things stand." He emphasized that his campaign has "no doubt" that they will be declared the winners.

    Donald Trump has not been spotted publicly since his insane speech a few nights ago.

    BIDEN AND HARRIS RECEIVE COVID BRIEFING
    11:20 AM

    This afternoon in downtown Wilmington, the Biden team received virtual briefings on the coronavirus pandemic. Here's AP:

    The former vice president traveled Thursday afternoon to a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, where his campaign has set up a makeshift studio. He and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, often sit facing large screens while experts participate by video conference.

    Biden has held similar public health and economic briefings about once a week since March while criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration for the federal government’s response to a pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans.

    Were trending poorly. Most states have uncontrolled spread.
    We're trending poorly. Most states have uncontrolled spread. COVIDEXITSTRATEGY.ORG

    Side note: what the hell.