Donald trumped... Joe Biden is US president-elect
Published:Saturday | November 7, 2020 | 11:38 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Democrat Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil.
Biden's victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots.
Biden crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania.
Biden, 77, staked his candidacy less on any distinctive political ideology than on galvanising a broad coalition of voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy.
What a bam bam! #JoeBiden supporters in Philadelphia have started the party as the former vice-president closes in on the 270 electoral votes needed to become the next US president. Last evening, the supporters rocked to the music of Chaka Demus and Pliers - Contributed video pic.twitter.com/Tnwn2b9Elb
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) November 7, 2020
The strategy proved effective, resulting in pivotal victories in Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Pennsylvania, onetime Democratic bastions that had flipped to Trump in 2016.
Biden was on track to win the national popular vote by more than 4 million, a margin that could grow as ballots continue to be counted.
Trump seized on delays in processing the vote in some states to falsely allege voter fraud and argue that his rival was trying to seize power — an extraordinary charge by a sitting president trying to sow doubt about a bedrock democratic process.
As the vote count played out, Biden tried to ease tensions and project an image of presidential leadership, hitting notes of unity that were seemingly aimed at cooling the temperature of a heated, divided nation.
IN PHOTO: Kamala Harris and Joe Biden
Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican heritage, also made history as the first black woman to become vice president, an achievement that comes as the U.S. faces a reckoning on racial justice.
The California senator will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government, four years after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
Trump is the first incumbent president to lose reelection since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
It was unclear whether Trump would publicly concede.
Americans showed deep interest in the presidential race.
A record 103 million voted early this year, opting to avoid waiting in long lines at polling locations during a pandemic.
With counting continuing in some states, Biden had already received more than 74 million votes, more than any presidential candidate before him.
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