‘Stop the count’ or ‘count those votes’? Trump supporters chant conflicting statements in Michigan and Arizona
Protesters contradicted each other outside vote-counting centres
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Your support makes all the difference.Trump supporters have been chanting conflicting statements outside of vote-counting centres, as swing states tally the remaining ballots in the US presidential election.
On Wednesday evening, supporters of President Trump chanted “count those votes” and “stop the count” outside vote-counting sites in Arizona and Michigan respectively.
The contradictory protests started after President Trump lost ground to Mr Biden in Michigan, but started to close the gap in Arizona, as mail-in-ballots were counted throughout Wednesday.
President Trump falsely claimed victory in the election on Wednesday morning when he was shown to be winning in Michigan, but losing in Arizona by a large margin.
However, the results shifted more in favour of Democratic challenger Joe Biden in Michigan when mail-in-ballots and city votes were counted as the night progressed. The state did not start counting mail-in-ballots until after polls closed.
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The Associated Press called Arizona for Mr Biden on Wednesday morning, but the race has tightened significantly since then, as the Trump campaign has claimed that they will eventually take the state. The Associated Press is currently sticking with its declaration for the Democratic candidate.
When Mr Trump still had a lead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, the Trump campaign issued lawsuits in an attempt to stop their counts. Michigan was won by Mr Biden on Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, before Michigan was declared for Mr Biden, supporters of Mr Trump gathered outside of polling stations in Detroit and chanted for officials to “stop the count.”
Other video footage showed the supporters inside a vote-counting centre in Detroit chanting “stop the count” and “stop the vote,” as poll workers attempted to tally the remaining ballots.
NBC News correspondent Steve Patterson reported that protesters attempted to push their way into the TCF Center in Detroit, while officials stuck pizza boxes to windows in order to obfuscate their view inside. Protesters again shouted “stop the count.”
While in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday night, a group of supporters of Mr Trump gathered outside of the Maricopa County Election Centre, and chanted “count those votes,” in contradiction to the protests in Michigan.
Business Insider reported that some of the protesters attempted to gain entry to the voting centre, but were denied. While others shouted “four more years” and “we love Trump.”
Some protesters also chanted “Fox News sucks,” after the network favoured by conservatives called Arizona for Mr Biden on Wednesday afternoon.
Similar chants of “count every vote” were shouted by supporters of Mr Biden in various cities across America, as the Democratic candidate made gains in the crucial swing states.
Although the Associated Press has called Arizona for Mr Biden, President Trump is gaining votes.
However, at the time of writing Mr Biden still leads Mr Trump by 50.5 per cent to 48.1 per cent with 88 per cent of the votes tallied.
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