Democrat Joe Biden claimed Wednesday he was winning America's knife-edge election, but President Donald Trump shot right back by predicting his own victory and accusing his opponent of trying to "steal" the vote.
Appearing before supporters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, after midnight, Biden said "we believe we're on track to win this election."
"Keep the faith, guys, we're going to win this."
But Biden, 77, warned that because of unprecedented use of mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic getting final results would "take a while."
Seconds later, Trump tweeted his rebuttal, saying: "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election."
The Republican president, who was watching results come in with staff at the White House, said he would shortly deliver a public statement.
"A big WIN!" he tweeted.
The dramatic clash, which stoked fears of electoral chaos, came after early results showed the two candidates largely retaining states already in their column, but without delivering the kind of knock-out blow that could decide the final tally quickly.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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