US election 2020: Biden takes Georgia to solidify victory

INTERNATIONAL DESK: US President-elect Joe Biden has won the state of Georgia, the BBC projects, the first Democratic candidate to do so since 1992, BBC reports.

The win solidifies Mr Biden’s victory, giving him a total of 306 votes in the electoral college, the system the US uses to choose its president.

President Donald Trump is projected to win North Carolina, reaching 232 votes.

Mr Trump, who has not yet conceded, alluded for the first time to a possible new administration in January.

Looking subdued, the president stopped short of acknowledging his defeat and did not mention Mr Biden by name in his first official appearance since the election during a briefing of his coronavirus task force.

“This administration will not be going to a lockdown,” Mr Trump said at the White House Rose Garden, as the country faces growing outbreaks of the virus. “Whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration will be. I guess time will tell.”

The president did not take questions from reporters. Pressure is growing on Mr Trump, a Republican, to acknowledge Mr Biden’s victory and help prepare the transition from one administration to another.

Georgia and North Carolina were the last states to be projected in the race for the White House. Mr Biden’s electoral votes equal the tally Mr Trump achieved in his victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. At the time Mr Trump referred to it as “a landslide”.

President Trump has launched a flurry of legal challenges in key states and levelled unsubstantiated allegations of widespread electoral fraud. But his efforts suffered three setbacks on Friday.