Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States after finally securing sufficient electoral college votes following a marathon count that delivered him the state of Pennsylvania, triggering celebrations across the United States.
At around 11.25 on Saturday morning, US time, networks and AP began calling Pennsylvania for the former vice-president, who currently leads there by nearly 30,000 votes, handing Biden the 270 electoral college votes he needs for victory.
As President Donald Trump raged in the White House about a rigged election and electoral fraud, his lead in key battleground states steadily evaporated over the last three days with the counting of mail and pre-poll ballots, despite extensive and futile Trump efforts to convince courts to prevent further counting.
Biden is also well ahead in Nevada and Arizona, though his lead in Georgia has shrunk as final votes have been counted. Once counting is completed — which may take several more days — Biden looks set for more than 300 electoral college votes — a massive win for a candidate that right-wing media have portrayed as having underperformed expectations.
Biden has so far received nearly 75 million votes, 4.1 million more than Trump and easily the highest level of votes ever in a US election. His 50% of the vote will further reinforce his legitimacy.
Trump — who not long before Biden’s victory tweeted “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” — found himself abandoned by Republican allies as he attacked the electoral process; Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers appeared to turn on him after his insistence he had won and that Biden could only win with the counting of “illegal” votes. Even right-wing Fox News called the election for Biden shortly after other networks. Trump reacted to his loss by leaving the White House to go golfing, with Trump loyalists promising that he would ramp up a legal campaign to thwart the results.
Celebrations erupted across the US and messages of congratulations poured in from world leaders for Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, who in January will be sworn in as the first female, first Black and first south Asian vice-president.
Biden will address America Saturday night US time, having an issue an email following declarations of victory
“I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in vice-president-elect Harris.
In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America. With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together. I’m going to speak to the nation tonight and I’d love for you to watch.”
It ain’t over until Mitch McConnell loses his power to disrupt the nation.
PRAY FOR THE SENATE ALSO !
Depends on what influence Trump is able to retain over the Republican Party
If the Chief Prosecutor from the SDNY has anything to do with it he be more than occupied for the next 4 years and beyond…..think Al Capone.
The weather in Sochi is reasonably amenable apparently.
Not having an extradition treaty and needing a casino/golf course project might make for a convenient arrangement.
Whether Trump retains influence will not change McConnell’s behaviour at all. McConnell regarded Trump as a tool, an opportunity to push McConnell’s agenda further. Biden as president only means McConnell reverts to his strategy when Obama was president. McConnell kept everything deadlocked for eight years. He’ll do it again if he has a majority.
And while he keeps the federal government paralysed the Repoublicans will reinforce their grip on state legislatures and the courts, so the next presidential election will be even more skewed in their favour. It is unlikely the Democrats will win again for all the foreseeable future.
It’s a fair point. But if Trump is not a big factor, how does he keep the Republican senators on this line?
McConnell was following on from the total opposition strategy that Gingrich used, but Obama was four years ago and a very different opponent – can he, or does he want to, keep it up? How does he see their longer term future, or is he just worried about 2024?
I’m quite sure McConnell and the rest of the Republicans know their party’s future depends on ruthless continuation of the strategy they have followed to keep power despite being a minority overall. It’s worked very well so far and the last four years have been the best yet, with spectacular gains packing the court system (not just the Supreme Court). This is not about just 2024. It’s every future election at state and federal level. If McConnell goes for any reason the Republicans will need someone to carry on his work.
ABSOLUTELY
There are a lot of Republicans who abhorred Trump but did not dare to criticise him. Perhaps there will be enough Centrist to help Biden advance America instead of mindlessly opposing him on the basis of some vague white supremacist ideology. We can but hope!
It may be one of the advantages of long association with a corrupt system that Biden in his decades in Washington DC has most likely made a lot of friends in high (read munificent) places and probably has a lot of favours that he can call in. He may be able to get more cooperation out of the Republicans in the Senate than we might have expected.
There is not a doubt that he can continue to do deals with McConnell – why break the habits of decades and a couple of careers?
I suspect material witnesses aren’t all that keen to attract attention to themselves of the IRS is an instigator of the action.
im pretty sure a number of subbies are prepared to make time as witnesses for the prosecution, Deutsche Bank and Russian tentacles make it positively salivating even if they are not at all enthusiastic about being involved in such an action.
Oh yes, bring it on !
I’m overjoyed because there is now at least some hope for our planet as the US rejoins the Paris Agreement and works with other leading nations in addressing climate change and other issues facing our world. Biden and Harris have put climate change as a top priority with plans for programs to address it. At least there will be a sense of considered and thoughtful messages rather than the insane, chaotic, irresponsible and harmful actions of Trump. There still even is a little hope for a Senate tie.
ONE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP PRAYING!!! FOR SENATE TIE THAT NANCY WILL BREAK
Actually, Kamala gets to do the breaking.
That would ex-officio president of the Senate VP Kamala Harris.
‘Nancy’ (Pelosi) is Speaker of the House.
The sad part is that it was the Democrats elite that wanted Hillary over Bernie whom I believe would have had a far better chance with his younger generation followers. The rich elite boomers just want it all for themselves. Imagine if there had been Bernie, no Trump and what a far better World we would have today. Just dreaming.
Bernie certainly came with the best message for the youth but the reality is that unfortunately there is so much noise and fear built up about socialism which is utterly unrealistic that the USA would not have moved from Trump. this election.
Yeah, there can be no Dem progress of any description whilst Moscow Mitch has anything to do with it.
PRAY FOR THE SENATE
Agreed. America has been made so paranoid about “socialism”, authoritarianism and even dictatorship are far less scary as prospects.
In choosing HRC the Dems chose the only candidate not shown by every poll in 2015/6 to have the lowest chance of beating Trump.
Many others, from Bernie down would have trounced him.
I think that’s exactly what Trump wanted – a big fat socialist target for Rupert and Co to gorge on .
I see from your China/Australia/US webinar advertisement that you have the Centre for Independent Studies’ Tommy “one note” Switzer on the bill. Why are you giving him yet another platform for delivering the coordinated, and damaging, attack on China that is being run by the hard right and their “think” tanks in Australia? He already has the Centre For Independent Studies, Murdoch and the ABC (Between the Lines) giving him an unhindered run. Why has Crikey given him a gig?
Although Keane’s Hockey article is still up the 18 comments on Keane’s Hockey article have been disappeared and we get that new unfavourtite – Comments are switched off on this article.
Yay for free speech and courageous publishers.
Where would we be without them!
I don’t imagine Crikey’s publisher has bottomless pockets, and Hockey has previous on sueing and winning even when the remarks that bothered him were ones some might say were plainly accurate. Look at the ABC site for ‘Joe Hockey awarded $200,000 over defamatory ‘Treasurer for sale’ headline’ if you want to refresh your memory. Sure, so much for free speech, but it’s fair to say small publishers need to pick their fights, rather than making it easy for opponents to destroy them.
Your point is well made.
The most bothersome aspect is not the blocking of comments but the expunging (remember when the Otherside did ‘purging’?) of the 18 comments.
I read them until around 10pm last night and there was nothing defamatory nor even much casting of nasturtiums (considering whom we’re discussing).
Even the grovelling grauniad at least shows when comments are removed and I think that this should done here.
It is salutary to see those deemed unsuitable for polite society and enable the rest of us to self censor (by conjecture, since we don’t know what was unsayable ..err, writeable. Q.E.D.).
Once entire blocks of the edifice are removed, and we know that this organ also cleanses it archives post facto..as if propter hoc and removes uncomments & misreporting… etc etc. (viz Mr E. Blair Esq.) then we are rapidly approaching Fahrenheit 451.