Trump can declare ‘early winner’

After a series of dramatic events, the voting for the US presidential election is finally underway. Several of his close advisers have advised Republican candidate Donald Trump to declare himself an ‘early winner’ even though polling is still to be done in several centers. They suggested this after Trump was ahead of Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in a competitive state like Pennsylvania.

In a report on Wednesday (November 6), the British media The Guardian reported this news.

According to the latest polling results from the US news agency AP, Republican candidate Donald Trump is well ahead of rival Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. As of writing that report, Kamala has got 153 and Trump 211 electoral votes.

Trump could declare himself the ‘premature winner’ on the day of the polls, it was already speculated. Because that is what he did in the 2020 election.

Close advisers have told Trump his potential victory is ‘credible’ in current results. Local time Tuesday night, while the results are not entirely certain, there are no signs that Trump will lose. So he should declare victory early.

Advisers believe an early victory announcement could potentially sway public opinion and media coverage in Trump’s favor. Especially in contested regions, candidates who are in the thick of the election could have an impact, increasing Trump’s chances of victory in those regions.

Meanwhile, even Trump’s staunchest allies, including former White House strategist Steven Bannon, have warned him against doing so. Steven spoke with Trump last week. Sources familiar with the matter said, “If it is the case that Trump has gone to bed and is still closer to victory, he should not declare victory early.” That would be rather foolish.

It is not clear whether Trump will follow the advice of advisers. However, a section of analysts believe that Trump can wait for all the votes to be counted.

Trump predicted the victory of friends and allies in the 2020 election. Compared to that, this time he has a lot of locks on his face. He has said little about what exactly he plans to do on election night. Trump dodged a question about the plan when he cast his ballot on Tuesday.

He said, I don’t know what is going to happen in terms of declaring victory. It seems, we have very significant support. It seems that the Republicans voted for us more than the Democrats. So, if you have a lead and also a big vote bank, it means, you are doing well.

However, ahead of the vote, Kamala Harris’s Democratic camp said they were prepared to block Trump’s early victory if he declared victory.

According to US law, early declaration of victory is a forfeiture. Under U.S. election rules, declaring victory before official results can be considered undermining the election process. As a result, the candidate may be accused of legal challenges, public backlash or undermining democracy.