Expert comment: US election
04 November 2020
Dr Mark Shanahan, Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Reading, said:
"Candidates don't call the results of elections. The results are in the hands of voters and delivered by the States. But a close result is the Democrats' worst nightmare. Both candidates could legitimately win this presidential race, but Trump's first instinct is to undermine the process and question the results. He has always seen his most likely path to victory as being via the courts and getting Amy Coney-Barrett onto the Supreme Court bench now appears a partisan political masterstroke. Biden may still prevail. But even if he does, he'll face a hostile Senate and a bitterly divided country. The winner in last night's election? Most probably constitutional lawyers."