Four days after the polls closed, the TV news networks finally called the presidential election for Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Saturday morning. 

Most of the networks made the call for Biden, which had been expected since late Wednesday, with CNN and MSNBC announcing the decision at 11:25 a.m. EST. But Fox News, which after calling Arizona for Biden on Tuesday night and had credited Biden  with more electoral votes than its competitors before the call, made its announcement at 11:40.

The networks determined Biden had defeated Donald Trump after calling Pennsylvania for the Democrat, giving him 273 electoral votes.

With no national entity determining the presidential winner, most people rely on news organizations to make the definitive call, though states must certify their results to make them official. The Biden campaign had been expecting a call on Friday, scheduling and then postponing outdoor celebratory speeches.

It was clear the networks were waiting for their decision desks to make the call, as top anchors and correspondents were on hand on a Saturday morning and jumped into action immediately.

About 10 minutes after CNN and MSNBC called the election for Biden, Fox anchor Neil Cavuto reported that other news organizations had made that determination and that Biden needed just one more state to hit 270 electoral votes, the number needed to win the presidency. Moments later, he handed off coverage to the network’s top political anchors, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, who said the networks was projecting a Biden victory.

Shortly after announcing Biden’s victory, CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted the historic significance of electing Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, as VP.  

“I would like to also take a moment to acknowledge that the United States of America just elected its first woman and its first woman of color as vice president, Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants, one from India and one from Jamaica. Once again amazing sign of what this country can do,” he said.

Before the call, some anchors showed their weariness at the delay, as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough jokingly offered breaking news that Bob Dole would be the 1996 Republican presidential nominee.

Before Biden was projected the winner, a number of TV anchors and pundits noted that Trump was golfing at his Virginia course on Saturday morning. Just a few hours before the expected projection of Biden’s victory, Trump defiantly and wrongly tweeted: “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”

Trump’s campaign issued a statement rejecting the network projections and alleging a media conspiracy at odds with reality: “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over.”

Contributing: Gary Levin, Kelly Lawler

This story is developing.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last SlideNext Slide

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/11/07/election-tv-coverage-fox-lags-rivals-calling-race-biden/6202915002/