Donald Trump has won the 2024 US election after he pulled ahead in key swing states, including the battleground of Wisconsin.
It is an incredible political comeback for the former president who refused to accept defeat to Joe Biden four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, and survived two assassination attempts during this year’s campaign.
After gaining a conclusive lead overnight, he has now officially passed the threshold of 270 electoral votes and will become the 47th president of the United States.
Previously the 45th president, Trump is the first person convicted of a felony to be elected president and, at 78, is the oldest person elected to the office.
He said the Republicans had ‘taken back control of the Senate’ and that ‘America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate’ during his victory speech in West Palm Beach, Florida.
After walking out to ‘God Bless the USA’ by Lee Greenwood, he was joined onstage by his wife Melania, his children and his campaign support staff.
His supporters chanted ‘USA, USA, USA’ as he prepared to speak.
‘This was frankly the greatest political movement of all time, there has never been anything like this in this country, and now it’s going to reach a new level of importance as we’re going to help our country heal,’ he told the cheering crowd.
Moments ahead of his speech, Fox News, a right-wing broadcaster, and NBC, a left-wing broadcaster, said Trump had triumphed over Democrat candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris after a tough fight.
The first state to declare Trump the winner was Kentucky at midnight UK time. This was soon followed by Indiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma.
The balance also largely tipped in his favour after Florida – a state with one of the highest numbers of votes in the Electoral College – declared him the winning candidate an hour later.
Other key states won by Trump include Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Harris meanwhile kept a stronghold in the northeast coastline, with states New York and New Jersey remaining blue, while Washington, Oregon and California along the west coast have voted Democrat.
States still left to declare their results include Nevada, Arizona, and Michigan.
World leaders congratulated Trump, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling his win a ‘historic election victory’ and Russia’s Security Council deputy head Dmitry Medvedev giving his verdict.
Trump’s campaign, which saw him survive two assassination attempts, focused on his policies of revitalising the economy, stopping illegal immigration and putting an end to global warfare.
The election result mirrored polling and betting odds in the days and weeks leading up to Election Day. While Harris and Trump were virtually 50/50, some recent polls and betting markets had the Republican candidate narrowly ahead in critical battleground states.
The 2024 election had shaped up to be among the closest in American history, with tensions reaching a fever pitch.
In Washington, DC, the Secret Service had 10-foot-tall fencing installed around the White House, Harris’ Naval Observatory residence and other crucial buildings. Storefronts were boarded up amid fears of riots breaking out.
Elsewhere, ballot boxes were set on fire and voters fought with poll workers.
Hours before the final result was called, a series of fake bomb threats were made at polling stations in Georgia and Michigan, with the FBI quashing the rumours that an attack was going to take place and blaming Russia for the threats.
The reports were later denied by the Russian Embassy in the US, which described them as ‘malicious slander’.
Trump, 78, ran a relentless campaign firing up MAGA fans through personal and political attacks on Harris, President Joe Biden and his Democratic opponents.
At his Monday rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Trump attacked Harris for taking ‘a day off every other day’.
‘I don’t even sleep,’ he said. ‘You know, I’ve gone through 62 days without a day off. Every single day.’
Trump overcame a slew of attempts by Democrats to stop him on the campaign trail, including being charged in four separate criminal cases. In the end, none of these stopped him, as none went to trial before the November election.
Instead, Trump managed to get roughly half of America on his side.
At his Madison Square Garden rally, held in the Democratic stronghold of New York City nine days before the election, tens of thousands of his supporters of all ages and ethnicities filled the arena and streets outside.
In mid-July, Trump suffered minor injuries after surviving an assassination attempt and has since embraced some faith leaders’ beliefs that God protected him so he could win the presidency and ‘save’ America.
The gunman, a Republican named Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead at the scene by officials.
Two months later, multiple shots were fired while Trump was golfing at the Trump National Golf Club in Florida’sWest Palm Beach. He was not hurt in the second shooting.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, a contractor and Ukraine activist living in Hawaii, was charged with the shooting.
Harris, 60, who entered the race in late July when Biden dropped out, ran her campaign on the promise to be ‘a president for all’ and to uphold freedom.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
