By Omar Bah, Wisconsin, USA
Republican candidate, Donald Trump, has sealed an historic victory in the US presidential election and completed his stunning political comeback.
The Republican comfortably defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in what was suggested would be a very tight election, after he swept several key battleground states and won a commanding lead in the national popular vote. He got more than the 270 required electoral votes.
In a repeat of his 2016 victory, Trump once again broke through the “blue wall.” He defeated Harris in Pennsylvania and in two more swing states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina and appears to be on track for a clean sweep of all seven swing states that were crucial for a win. Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat marks the second time in eight years that a woman became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee only to fall short of a barrier-breaking victory.
Claiming victory at an election watch party in Florida Wednesday morning, Trump told supporters that he would usher in “a new golden age” and “restore America to greatness.”.
“Well, I want to thank you all very much. This is great. We have thousands of friends in this incredible movement. This was a movement like nobody’s ever seen before. And frankly, I believe this was the greatest political movement of all time. There has never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond, and now it’s going to reach a new level of importance because we are going to help our country heal. We will help our country heal. We have a country that needs help, and it needs it very badly. We are going to fix our borders and everything about our country,” he said to a large crowd of Republican supporters who chanted ‘USA’ all night.
If confirmed on January 6 by Congress, which convenes to count the electoral votes and certify the winner of the election, Trump will become the first former president to return to the White House in more than 130 years and, at 78, the oldest man elected to America’s highest office.
“We made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that. We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we’ve achieved the most incredible political victory that our country has never seen before. Look what happened. Isn’t this crazy?”
Mr. Trump thanked the American people for the extraordinary honor of electing him as the 47th President.
“And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family, and for your future; every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the Golden Age of America; that’s what we have done,” he added.
The victory, he added, is magnificent for the American people and will allow “us to make America great again.”.
“We’re going to make you very happy. We’re going to make you very proud of your vote. I hope that you’re going to be looking back someday and saying that was one of the truly important moments of my life, when I voted for this group of people beyond the president, this group of great people. America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate. Wow. That’s great. And the senate races in Montana, Nevada. Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Were all won by the Mega Movement; they help so much,” he stated.
US hunt for first female president continues
Kamala Harris’s defeat in the 2024 US presidential election marks another setback in America’s journey to elect its first female president.
Despite becoming the second woman to win a major party’s presidential nomination, following Hillary Clinton in 2016, Harris was unable to secure victory against Republican Donald Trump. CBS exit poll data suggests Vice President Harris, who was hoping to become America’s first woman president and campaigned heavily for abortion rights, may have underperformed with women.
Some 54% of female voters cast their ballots for her, the numbers indicate. But Joe Biden won the support of 57% of women in 2020.
Harris was the first Black woman and first South Asian person to be a major party’s presidential nominee.
Analysts suggest that Harris’s identity as a woman of color significantly influenced the election outcome.
Issues such as the economy, inflation, and immigration appeared to resonate more with voters than Harris’s focus on reproductive rights and the potential threats of a second Trump presidency.
Analysts also argued that Harris struggled to distance herself from the unpopular Biden administration, with Biden’s approval rating at -15%. The defeat continues the streak of no woman president in US history, despite several groundbreaking campaigns by female candidates over the years.
While Harris’s loss is a disappointment for many who hoped to see the first woman president, analysts say her candidacy has further cracked the glass ceiling and may pave the way for future female presidential candidates.
Abortion rights
The 2024 US election saw abortion rights as a significant issue, with voters in multiple states deciding on ballot measures related to reproductive rights.
Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and Nevada are projected to secure enough votes to pass the measures to protect abortion rights, while Florida’s abortion rights measure won a majority of votes but couldn’t secure the required 60 percent to pass.
Reaction
Elizabeth, a 65-year-old Florida-based Democrat, told The Standard Wednesday when it was apparent that Trump was going to win that she was worried about the future of America under Mr. Trump.
“Things are not looking good, and it seems this madman (Trump) is having a significant lead. I am worried for my kids and America as a country under this man. He is going to lead us astray,” she said.
In a contrasting view, John, a jubilant Republican supporter based in Dade County, Florida, said Trump will make America great again.
“I voted for Trump because I believe, under the current circumstances and challenges facing the world, he is the right person to address them, and I am confident he will disappoint,” he said.
Electoral college
Each of the 50 states, plus Washington DC, is given a number of electoral college votes, adding up to a total of 538 votes. More populous states get more electoral college votes than smaller ones.
A candidate needs to win 270 electoral college votes (50% plus one) to win the election.
In every state except two—Maine and Nebraska—the candidate that gets the most votes wins all of the state’s electoral college votes.
Electoral college votes correspond to electors from each state. These electors vote directly for the president based on the results in the general election in their state.
Wisconsin
The state of Wisconsin has again proved decisive, as projected by analysts and pollsters. For the past four US presidential elections dating back to President Barack Obama, the winner in Wisconsin has ended up winning the ticket to the White House. Yesterday, Mr. Trump flipped Wisconsin, reclaiming a battleground state he won in 2016 but lost narrowly to Joe Biden in 2020. Although Kamala Harris won in Milwaukee County, the state’s largest and most diverse, and in Dane County, the state’s most educated, both counties shifted to the right, as did a majority of counties across the state. Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes secured Trump’s victory.
