Secret Service agents sent to Delaware to ramp up protection for Joe Biden as he edges closer to a win and plans to make 'big announcement' later today

 

• Secret Service is sending reinforcements to Delaware to help protect Joe Biden who is slated to make a 'big announcement' on Friday 
• Dozens are already providing security but another squad of agents has been sent to add to his protective bubble
• Typically the president-elect would receive a higher level of SS protection 
• Biden's personal detail had been much as the same as when he ran his campaign  
• If Joe Biden is declared the winner, he will then receive Secret Service protection appropriate for the president-elect 

The Secret Service has sent additional agents to Delaware to increase the amount of protection around Joe Biden after the campaign for the Democratic nominee noted they would be requiring use of the Wilmington convention center for at least one more day with suggestions that the former Vice President could make a major speech on Friday. 

Although the Secret Service does not publicly discuss its security arrangements for the president or the candidates it protects, dozens of agents are currently providing security for the Biden campaign at the Chase Center at the Riverfront convention center in Wilmington.

Biden's additional security would begin on Friday, however it is not the full protective detail that would normally accompany a president-elect, but it is more elevated than his current setup.

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The Secret Service has been asked to continue its assignment surrounding Joe Biden for another day with suggestions of a 'big announcement' later on Friday

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden arrives at The Queen theater on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware. A mamber of his Secret Service team is seen on the left of the picture

In the past, the winner of election night would normally receive increased security protection that same night, however the delays experienced this year means new security details have not yet been assigned. 

If Biden is finally declared to be the winner but Trump still refuses to concede, the Secret Service team may be told to wait until mid-December when the electoral college meets before treating Biden as the president-elect according to the Washington Post.

Either way, the Secret Service would be likely to ramp up protection on Biden well before that date, a former agent said to the Post.       

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Secret Service agents keep watch as U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden emerges from church in Wilmington, Delaware last month

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Typically the winner of the election would receive a higher level of SS protection, however, because of the delay in declaring the winner Biden's personal detail had much as the same as when he ran his campaign

Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig revealed the Secret Service had been asked to stay on at the convention center in Wilmington in advance of a big announcement on Friday 

In 2000, during the presidential race between Republican George Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore, for 36 days there was no official president-elect.

The two sides were involved in a recount over votes in Florida before the Supreme Court finally made a decision. 

Throughout that period, the Secret Service decided to keep things the same and provided vice-presidential protective detail with Al Gore all the while continuing to protect George Bush as a then-candidate.  

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Earlier on Thursday, in an address in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden asked Americans to be patient and calm as they waited for the final ballots to be counted 

Earlier on Thursday, in an address in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden asked Americans to be patient and calm as they waited for the final ballots in the presidential race to be counted - amid mounting anxiety over the long wait for results, and concern about public order.

'Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience as well,' the former vice president said from the stage of Wilmington's Queen theater late on Thursday afternoon.

'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.'

In the same brief statement, the Democratic nominee assured supporters that he and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, would come out on top.

'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.'

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Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden leaves the stage with vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris after speaking about the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election during an appearance with in Wilmington on Wednesday