The US presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair from the Democratic Party, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, have emerged as winners in the 2020 US presidential election which was held on Wednesday 3rd November.
Biden and Harris were able to outperform the vote of the incumbent Republican pair, Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence. Based on CNN’s projected results, Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, after victory in the state he was born in gave him 20 electoral college votes, pushing him over the 270 thresholds.
With Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, Biden now had a total of 273 electoral votes with Donald Trump gaining 213 votes. A short time after the Pennsylvania vote was called, Nevada was also confirmed as voting for Biden and Harris, adding a further six to the pair’s total.
Prior to becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, Biden served as vice president under former US President Barack Obama. He is also the longest-serving senator for Delaware.
Biden’s superiority over Trump had been predicted beforehand by various polling agencies but eventually, it was a neck and neck race in key battleground states with Biden emerging the winner.
The eventual winner excelled in a number of states that previously served as Trump’s territory in the 2016 presidential election. The Democratic Party reclaimed the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and flipped Arizona blue for the first time since 1992.
In a speech on Wednesday 4th November, Joe Biden said that victory was in sight after he officially took the popular vote in Michigan.
“And now, after a long night of vote counting, it is clear that we won enough states to get the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency,” said Biden.
“I am not here to declare we won, but I am here to report that when the count is over, we believe we will be winners. We are campaigning as Democrats, but I will rule as the president of America,” he added.
The pair’s supporters gathered to celebrate throughout the nation. People were out on the streets in large number in cities including New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.
At 8pm local time, Saturday 7th November 2020, Joe Biden delivered his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware.
“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.” He went on to thank his family, Kamala Harris, local officials, and those who worked the polls.
Furthermore, Kamala Harris addressed the public for the first time as the first Black and Asian American woman US vice president-elect.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, with the very soul of America at stake and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for America,” Harris told the crowd.
Meanwhile, Trump and his team have vowed to fight the results in court and continue to question the integrity of legally cast votes as news organisations made their own call.
Source: CNN Indonesia and Washington Post