As the results placed Donald Trump on the verge of defeating Kamala Harris in a surprise White House comeback, he declared victory and promised to “heal” the nation on Wednesday.
His ebullient address was given in spite of the fact that no other US networks had yet to declare Trump the winner, only Fox News had done so.
Trump, his wife Melania, and a number of his kids went to the platform at his campaign headquarters in Florida as cheering supporters screamed “USA.”
“We are going to help our country heal,” the Republican former president said.
For the 78-year-old, US networks have called the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. He leads the Democratic vice president in the other states, though they haven’t been called yet.
The gloom quickly spread across Harris’s camp.
As supporters left, Cedric Richmond, the co-chair of the Harris campaign, told a watch party in Washington, “You will hear from the vice president tomorrow, but you won’t hear from her tonight.”
Trump’s Republican Party also took control of the Senate, reversing a slim Democratic majority by flipping two seats, dealing Democrats even another setback.
As US friends in Europe and Asia fear a return of Trump’s nationalist politics and his endorsement of autocrats like Vladimir Putin of Russia, a Trump triumph may send shockwaves around the globe.
However, as the results came in, speculators wagered on a Trump triumph, and the US dollar jumped and bitcoin reached a record high as most equity markets rose.
Harris and Trump, who would be the oldest president ever at the time of inauguration, the first felon president, and just the second in history to serve non-consecutive terms, had been in a close fight, according to polls for weeks.
On November 26, Trump will also be sentenced in a criminal case related to hush money payments, and the scandal over his denial of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election is still ongoing.
But in the end victory came surprisingly quickly.
The mood shifted sharply at Harris’s watch party in Howard University — her former college and a historically Black university in Washington — as the results came in.
“I’m afraid,” Charlyn Anderson declared. “I’m nervous right now. My legs hardly move, therefore I’m leaving.
On the other hand, the festivities at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and the adjacent watch party became more intense.
The tech entrepreneur Elon Musk shared a photo of himself with Trump, who he has supported and who is set to head a government efficiency panel under him.
“Game, set, and match,” Musk stated on X, the social media platform he owns alongside Space X and the Tesla electric car company.
In a contest that would have significant ramifications for both the US and the rest of the world, millions of Americans had waited in line throughout Election Day and millions more had cast their ballots early.
They have to choose between giving Trump a historic comeback or putting Harris in the most powerful position in the world.
Numerous bomb threats were made against polling places in Georgia and Pennsylvania, serving as a clear reminder of the tension and concerns about outright violence.
According to the FBI, the threats seemed to come from Russia, which Washington claims is attempting to sway the election. Despite being fake, the threats managed to sabotage the proceedings.
Harris, 60, wanted to become the first person of South Asian heritage and the second Black person to hold the presidency.
When Biden withdrew from the campaign in July, she made a dramatic entry, and Trump, who was twice impeached while in office, has subsequently survived two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction.
She emphasized her opposition to Trump-backed abortion restrictions and her argument that Trump posed a threat to democracy.
Using ominous rhetoric, Trump has pledged to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants in an unprecedented campaign.
Around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Ukraine’s conflict zones, the election is being intently followed. Trump has threatened to stop funding Kyiv’s resistance to the Russian incursion.
AFP
