According to media projections in the United States, Joe Biden has been elected as the 46th President of the United States of America, defeating incumbent Donald J. Trump in a tense contest. Biden won Wisconsin and Michigan, which were key in Trump’s victory in the 2016 election. With over 99% of the votes counted, Biden is winning Pennsylvania with more votes than Trump did four years ago.
Leapfrogging the president in such states played a major part in Biden reaching the threshold of 270 electoral votes to be elected US President on Saturday. The November 2020 US election has smashed a variety of records, including the number of early votes cast (102 million) and for the ultimate winner of the election (over 75 million).
We also saw the election of not only the first woman to hold the second highest office in the US, but also a Black and South Asian woman in the person of Kamala Harris, who out of the hundreds of millions of women born since the founding of the US, is the first woman Vice President of the US.
We have also seen the first incumbent in modern US presidential election history not to concede an election in Donald Trump.
Despite the media projection and the congratulatory messages from some world leaders to Joe Biden on his victory, Trump is yet to concede defeat, citing alleged voter fraud.
In his victory speech, Joe Biden called for unity among Americans, saying, “I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify, who doesn’t see red and blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.”
He said he ran seeking to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of the nation – the middle class, to make America respected around the world again, “and to unite us here at home”.
The President elect made a conciliatory overture to Trump supporters, saying: “And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight; I have lost a couple of election myself. But now let’s give each other a chance! It is time to put away the harsh rhetoric and to listen to each other again, to make progress. We must stop treating our opponent as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.”
Although counting is ongoing in some states, but come 20th January 2021 President Elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated…unless Trump pulls an unprecedented legal fast one.