Biden's protection ramped up by Secret Service, airspace restricted over Delaware home as he approaches win
The Secret Service, on Thursday, November 5, sent additional agents to Delaware in an effort to increase protection around Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who is inching closer to becoming the next US president. The move was made after the Biden campaign noted that they would be making use of the Wilmington convention center for one more day, suggesting that the former vice president could make a major announcement on Friday, November 6.
Dozens of Secret Service agents are reportedly providing security for the Biden campaign currently at the Chase Center at the Riverfront convention center in Wilmington. The Democratic nominee's additional security detail will begin on Friday, however, the arrangement would not include the full protective detail that is generally given to a president-elect. The winner of the presidential election night generally receives increased security protection the same night of the election results in the past; however, the delay in election results this year means that new security details for a president-elect have not yet been assigned.
It was also reported that a new restricted "national defense airspace" has been put in place over Biden's home in Wilmington. The Federal Aviation Administration said airspace has also been temporarily restricted over Chase Center, where the stage is set for a possible Biden victory speech.
If the former vice president is eventually declared the winner of the 2020 elections and incumbent Donald Trump refuses to concede, then the Secret Service may be told to wait till mid-December, when the electoral college meets, before giving the necessary security to Biden as a president-elect, the Washington Post reported. A former agent told the outlet that the Secret Service would likely increase Biden's protection either way.
During the 2000 presidential election between Republican George W Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore, there was no official president-elect for 36 days in the closely contested poll. Both sides were involved in a vote recount in Florida and eventually, the Supreme Court made the final decision on who won the election. In one of the closest presidential elections in American history, Bush held a narrow lead in the state of Florida over Gore. Out of nearly 6 million ballots in Florida, only 1784 votes separated the two from a clear win. As the recounts occurred and a legal battle ensued, the Secret Service reportedly decided to provide vice-presidential protective detail with Al Gore all the while continuing to protect George Bush.
Biden, while addressing voters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, asked Americans to be calm and patient and wait for the final ballots in the race to be counted. He made an appeal for calm amidst increasing anxiety in American voters over the long wait for the election results and fear of public unrest. The Democrat nominee said: "Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience as well. So I ask everyone to stay calm, all people to stay calm. The process is working. The count is being completed and we'll know very soon."
The former vice president, in the same statement, assured supporters that he and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, would emerge as the winners of the 2020 presidential elections. "We continue to feel, the senator and I, we continue to feel very good about where things stand," Biden said. "We have no doubt that when the count is finished Sen. Harris and I will be declared the winners."