President Donald Trump will “immediately” request a recount of votes in Wisconsin, campaign manager Bill Stepien announced in a statement Wednesday.
“Despite ridiculous public polling used as a voter suppression tactic, Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be,” Stepien wrote. “There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”
The campaign’s statement came just one hour after Wisconsin election officials announced that former Vice President Joe Biden held a roughly 20,000-vote lead over Trump after “all of the ballots” had been counted. (RELATED: We Spent Election Night Inside Trump’s White House Extravaganza — Here’s What It Was Like)
#BREAKING: Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe:
“All of the ballots have been counted.”
Joe Biden is ahead 20,697 votes.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) November 4, 2020
With 99% counted, Biden’s Wisconsin margin stands at 20,638 votes.
Trump’s 2016 victory margin in Wisconsin was 22,748 votes.
— Dave Catanese (@davecatanese) November 4, 2020
It should be noted that though his margin of victory in 2016 was small enough to trigger a recount in the state, a Trump-supporting super PAC filed a suit blocking recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Based on the results tabulated Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Trump would need to win two of the aforementioned states, plus Georgia and North Carolina, to secure reelection.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 04: U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump look on as Vice President Mike Pence (not pictured) speaks on election night in the East Room of the White House in the early morning hours of November 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president spent much of Wednesday questioning the yet to be finalized results in Wisconsin and five other battleground states.
“Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled,” he wrote in a message Twitter eventually marked as misleading. “Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE, and the “pollsters” got it completely & historically wrong!”
Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled. Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE, and the “pollsters” got it completely & historically wrong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.