Joe Biden To Receive Additional Secret Security Service Protection In Case Of Presidential Election Victory
Joe Biden could receive additional support from the Secret Security Service in preparation for a possible presidential victory speech. The Washington Post reported that further reinforcements will be posted in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden’s campaign team is based.
The Secret Security Service does not provide the same level of safety for the president-elect, but a protective bubble would be in place for Biden. The additional measures were brought in on Friday, November 6 and may be a signal that Biden could receive the full level of security if he is successful in the 2020 election.
Agents have already been taking safety measures for Biden’s team at the Chase Center on the Riverfront convention center in Wilmington as votes in battleground states are still being counted in the final stages of the election.
Catherine Milhoan, spokeswoman for the Secret Service, has refused to comment on the deployment of extra resources to the Biden campaign team, stating that plans to protect the president or candidates are never discussed with the public. An aide for Biden also refused to comment on the situation.
In past elections, the agency immediately provides additional resources for the president-elect by deploying more agents to protect the incoming president. This typically happens late into election night following the concession of a candidate and after the winner of the election has given a victory speech.
However, the results of the 2020 election have not been decided yet, with electoral college votes still being counted in four states. According to the Associated Press, Biden remains ahead with 264 votes and requires six more to become president. Donald Trump has 214, needing 56 to remain in the White House.
In the event that Biden is declared the winner of the election and Trump does not concede, agents will have to stand by for further detail under agency protocol and potentially wait until mid-December for the electoral college to meet and certify the results.
A similar situation has happened before. In the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, there was no official president-elect as ballots in Florida were recounted.
In the lead up to the election, protection for Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, has already been required. The Inquisitr reported that a man in Maryland was arrested in October after he threatened to kidnap and kill the two Democratic candidates, leaving graphic details in a note at a home in the state that had Biden-Harris campaign signs displayed in the yard.
