Source: Caixin

Author: Xia Junxiong

According to media reports citing sources, former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was advised by his advisers that if he leads Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris by enough votes in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, then he should declare victory early on election night, though it is unclear whether Trump will heed this advice.

The 2024 U.S. election began at local time on Tuesday (November 5), and based on past experience, the winner of the U.S. election is usually known late on election night or early the next day. However, given the unusually tight nature of this election, it may take longer to arrive at a result.

Trump's advisers believe that if Trump has a lead of hundreds of thousands of votes in Pennsylvania, or if his internal polling indicates that he could still win even if the results are not fully in by Tuesday night, then Trump claiming victory would not be a loss.

However, even Trump's most aggressive allies have advised him not to declare victory early if the race remains close late on election night, to avoid looking foolish.

However, whether Trump declares victory early depends on him. His aides acknowledge that if Trump decides to do so, no one on his team may be able to persuade him otherwise.

Given that Trump declared victory early in the 2020 election, the Harris campaign previously stated that they have a plan in place to respond to any repeat of Trump's tactics.

Sources revealed that Trump did not mention his plans for election night much this time, in stark contrast to the 2020 election when he had already told allies he would declare victory regardless of the outcome.

Trump himself avoided the question while voting on Tuesday, saying, 'I don't know what will happen in terms of declaring victory. It looks like we have a big advantage, and the number of Republican votes is much higher than that of Democrats. So if you are leading and have a lot of votes, it means you are doing well, but they have to declare a winner. They should declare a winner.'