Biden Swings Through Pennsylvania; Trump Returns to White House

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden returned to his childhood hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for some last-minute campaigning on Election Day, while President Donald Trump stopped at campaign headquarters in Virginia before returning to the White House for media calls.

“It feels good. You know, we’ve got to run through the tape, man,” Biden told volunteers at a canvassing kickoff outside the Carpenters Union Local 445 hall as they prepared to help turn out voters Tuesday morning.

Biden said he wanted to restore “basic decency and honor” and unite a country he said has fractured under the Trump administration. “The middle class built this country. Wall Street didn’t build it,” he said, speaking through a mask and using a bullhorn.

Noting that he won the midnight vote in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, Biden referenced concern Democrats had over published reports that Trump had discussed declaring victory Tuesday, regardless of whether mail-in votes were still being counted. “Based on Trump’s notion,” Biden said, “I’m going to declare victory tonight.”

Pennsylvania is a key battleground, and has the highest chance of any state of becoming the tipping point in the election, according to the FiveThirtyEight website. At a canvassing event with volunteers in Philadelphia’s West Oak neighborhood in the afternoon, Biden emphasized the importance of the city, the commonwealth’s most-populous county, where three-quarters of registered voters are Democrats.

“As goes Philly so goes the state of Pennsylvania,” Biden told a cheering crowd.

Trump said he’s not yet considering either a victory or a concession speech during an afternoon visit to his campaign headquarters, but predicted “some tremendous results” and a “great night” for his re-election bid.

“You never know,” Trump said, while contending that toss-up states including Texas and Arizona were “looking really very strong.”

“Winning is easy,” he added. “Losing is never easy -- not for me, it’s not.”

Trump later returned to the White House where he planned to work the phones the rest of the afternoon, as his campaign operated a war room to monitor returns at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door, according to two people familiar with Trump’s schedule who asked to not be named to discuss information not yet public.

He was expected to wind up his day with three radio interviews and a party at the White House with invited guests. He started his morning calling in to the “Fox & Friends” program and was asked about Democratic concerns that he may declare victory prematurely before mail-in votes are counted in key states.

“At what point will you declare victory,” one of the hosts, Steve Doocy, asked.

“When there’s victory,” Trump replied. “I think we’ll have victory. But only when there’s victory. I mean, there’s no reason to play games. I look at it as being a very solid chance of winning here.”

Biden, joined by two of his granddaughters, also visited the Scranton home he lived in until age 10, where a cheering crowd waited them. “It’s good to be home,” he shouted after pulling down his mask.

Inside the house, he signed a wall, just as he did during the 2008 campaign. “From this house to the White House with the grace of God,” he wrote, adding his signature and the date.

Biden also made quick stops at a nearby baseball field, a sandwich shop and a church.

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