What Al Gore Has Said About 2020 Election

Former Vice President Al Gore has said the 2020 election is different to his defeat in 2000 and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has many paths to victory as vote counting is set to continue on Friday.

Gore was famously defeated by President George W. Bush after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a halt to a recount of some votes in Florida during the 2000 election's "hanging chads" controversy.

The Democrat, who served under President Bill Clinton, told NBC News on Thursday that every vote should be counted and Biden was in a better position to secure the White House than he had been.

"This is a completely different election from the one 20 years ago. Joe Biden has multiple pathways to secure his victory. And of course, I'm for him and I'm hoping that will be the case very soon," Gore said.

"But the most important principle that I defended 20 years ago, that Joe Biden and many others are defending tonight is, let's count every legally cast vote and obey the will of the American people.

"You know, I looked at the people standing in line to vote in the middle of a pandemic. Some of them waiting in line 10, 11 hours in some cases. And the determination of the American people in spite of what they were facing, to have the largest turnout in the entire history of our country, they're heroes and they're redeeming the promise of America," Gore said.

Gore called on President Donald Trump to "do the right thing" if he ends up losing once all the ballots are counted. The president has made unproven accusations of voter fraud.

"If you count the legal votes, I easily win," Trump said on Thursday. "If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late, we're looking at them very strongly."

"I was thinking as the president was speaking in the White House of the advice Mark Twain once gave to a group of young voters. He said, 'Do right. You'll gratify some and astonish the rest,'" Gore told NBC News.

"If Donald Trump does face the situation where the votes are all counted and he turns out to not to be successful, I would urge him to do the right thing. And yes, it would astonish a lot of people, but it would be good for our country."

Counting is set to continue on Friday as Biden has narrowed the gap in Pennsylvania and Georgia. The Democrat currently leads Trump in the electoral college.