Joe Biden has defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election to become the 46th President of the United States, Associated Press reports.

After six days of counting ballots, AP Friday morning declared a Biden victory after he won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 vote threshold to 284. 

Biden received approximately 50.6% of the popular vote while Trump received 47.7%.

Biden owes much of his victory to his success in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania who voted for Trump in the 2016 election.

Following his victory, Biden took to Twitter Saturday morning to acknowledge the victory.

“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” Biden said.

In an address Friday night, Biden acknowledged his growing lead in several key states but did not yet claim victory. Instead, he focused on trying to unite a highly-polarized America.

“In America, we hold strong views, we have strong disagreements, and that’s okay,” Biden said. “But we must remember, the purpose of our politics isn’t total, unrelenting warfare.”

Biden urged the country to “come together to heal” after what he hopes is a temporary era of “vitriolic” political rhetoric.

“We have serious problems to deal with: COVID, the economy, racial justice, climate change,” Biden said. “We don’t have any more time to waste for partisan warfare.”

Biden took the lead early after winning Virginia’s 13 electoral votes and maintained it throughout the following days.

Following the announcement of Biden’s victory, Trump tweeted “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”

In a press conference early Wednesday morning, Trump falsely claimed victory while some states were still counting ballots. 

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” Trump said. 

Trump accused Democrats of counting “illegal votes” and said that the “voting apparatus in most of these [uncalled] states are run by Democrats.”

MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS all pulled the feed from their broadcasts before Trump finished speaking.

Trump took to Twitter Thursday morning saying “STOP THE COUNT!” despite the fact that doing so would still mean Biden would win the election.

Due to the narrow difference in vote totals, the Trump campaign has already requested a recount in Wisconsin, and Georgia election officials have said a recount should be expected.

Trump has also filed lawsuits in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada, citing unproven claims of fraud and vote tampering.

 Michael J. Collins can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mjcollinsnews.

Newsletter Editor Cassady Lamb can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @lambp0p.