A positive change for America
Supporters of Joe Biden gather around a 1991 Lincoln Town Car decked out with Biden-Harris flags. File/AFP
The controversial and ‘invincible’ Donald has finally tasted big defeat. Now, making him great again will be a thing of the past.
Democrat Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States. President-elect Joe Biden finally amassed enough Electoral College votes needed to win the White House after four grueling days after the election.
The former vice president took over the lead from Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, pushing him over the 270 Electoral College votes needed for the presidency.
Of the 44 men who held the post in more than two centuries, Biden’s is among the most unlikely – as he aspired to the job for more than three decades, twice running unsuccessfully and passing on a third bid to try to succeed Obama four years ago.
Biden becomes the oldest president-elect and brings with him a history-making vice president-elect in Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve in the nation’s second-highest office.
There were parties and prayers across the country as spontaneous parties broke out in New York City. People ran out of their buildings, banging on pots. While they danced and high-fived with strangers amid honking horns, many others streamed into Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, waving signs and taking cellphone pictures.
Two former Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter offered their congratulations. Bill Clinton tweeted that “America has spoken and democracy has won.” The 42nd president also predicted Biden and Harris would “serve all of us and bring us all together.”
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, said in a statement that he and his wife, Rosalynn, are “proud” of the Democrats’ “well-run campaign and seeing the positive change they bring to our nation.”
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, also congratulated the history making ticket” of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris calling the election “a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among one of the first world leaders to laud the Biden and Harris. “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their election as the next President and Vice President of the United States of America. Canada and the United States enjoy an extraordinary relationship – one that is unique on the world stage.”
“I look forward to working with President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, their administration, and the United States Congress as we tackle the world’s greatest challenges together.”
