Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have offered a message of unity as the pair spoke following their election victory. Harris, who will be the first woman to be vice-president, paid tribute to her mother. For Biden, his speech was an opportunity to offer an olive branch to his political rivals after nearly four years of division under Donald Trump
Sketch: In his victory speech, the president-elect proved himself the right person at the right time for an ailing country
Joe Biden ran jauntily on to the stage, wearing a black face mask but suddenly looking several years younger. Looking, in fact, like millions of Americans felt, with burdens to bear but a spring in his step.
The new US president-elect offered a Saturday night speech that did not brag or name call, did not demonise immigrants and people of colour, did not send TV networks and social media into meltdown and did not murder the English language.
Continue reading...People gathered in capitals of Pennsylvania and Michigan claim ballot fraud and condemn media
As word came on Saturday that the election had been called for Joe Biden, hundreds of supporters of the defeated president began amassing at Pennsylvania’s state capitol building in Harrisburg to protest.
It was a split-screen simulcast of America’s intensified political division, as Donald Trump’s defeat was jubilantly celebrated 130 miles east in Philadelphia, and in cities around the country.
Continue reading...President-elect Joe Biden promised to 'restore the soul of America' as he declared victory in front of a crowd of supporters on Saturday night in his home town of Wilmington. 'I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn't see red states or blue states but who only sees the United States.'
Addressing Trump supporters, Biden said he understood their disappointment because he had lost before. But now, 'let’s give each other a chance', he said. Biden and Kamala Harris hardly mentioned Donald Trump directly in their speeches – instead, they focused on the challenges ahead, including tackling the coronavirus pandemic
Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and first South Asian American woman to become vice-president-elect, began her victory speech by quoting the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, who said, 'Democracy is not a state, it is an act.'
A century after women won the right to vote, Harris, wearing suffragette white, spoke about her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. 'When she came here from India, at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible,' she said.
Joe Biden was declared the president-elect after the AP announced he had won Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes, putting him over the threshold of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House and beat Donald Trump
Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator of Vermont who put up a strong challenge to Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries before helping him campaign, has offered congratulations to the president-elect and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Sanders called this election the most important in modern American history
Georgia’s Secretary of State has tweeted that that county of Fulton had “discovered an issue involving reporting from their work” on Friday.
Brad Raffensperger said officials will rescan the “work”, which I assume he means ballots, although the tweet is fairly vague.
Fulton has discovered an issue involving reporting from their work on Fri. Officials are at State Farm Arena to rescan that work. I have a monitor & investigators onsite. Also sent Dep. SOS as well to oversee the process to make sure to secure the vote and protect all legal votes
The Guardian’s Libby Brooks reports from Glasgow:
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris following the US Presidential election.
Continue reading...Australia will be increasingly isolated as the US joins the club of countries, including China, with ambitious mid-century goals
The election of Joe Biden to the White House is likely to see Australia increasingly isolated as the world heads to net zero emissions, with quite fundamental implications for our economy.
Let’s have a look at what has happened in the last two months.
Continue reading...Supporters are in raptures as they celebrate Biden’s victory. He will be the 46th president of the United States of America
US elections 2020 - live updates
Continue reading...After the tortuous last few days, Joe Biden’s election has been welcomed by leaders keen to renew relations with the US
Fiji’s prime minister got in first, gambling on congratulating Joe Biden before the presidential election had been called, slipping in a plea for action on climate change.
But once the result was official, congratulations came pouring in from around the world. Donald Trump’s allies, critics and reluctant partners had all been following the vote counting, weighing up the impact of a radical change of direction expected from Washington under Biden.
Continue reading...Americans across the country took to the streets to celebrate the end of Trump’s presidency while triumph likely to be welcomed by international allies
Joe Biden has been elected the 46th US president, signalling a return to political norms in America after four years of raucous populism and administrative turmoil under Donald Trump.
Related: Ever resilient, Joe Biden finally grasps his chance to lead America
Continue reading...Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal attorney, was holding a press conference baselessly disputing the legitimacy of the US presidential election when news filtered through that Joe Biden had been declared the winner.
'Who was it called by?' Giuliani asked, referring to the broadcast news networks. 'All of them,' replied a reporter. The former New York City mayor insisted the result could not be called until the Trump campaign's legal challenges had gone to court.
Expressions of joy and happiness break out across America after Pennsylvania went to Biden, handing him the presidency
As news broke that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump in the race for the White House, cities across the US saw wild celebrations from supporters of the Democratic nominee for president.
Related: US election live: Joe Biden wins and says 'It’s time for America to unite'
Continue reading...President-elect Joe Biden has thanked the American people for their support after winning the US presidential election against Donald Trump. From razor-thin margins, record voter turnout and protests via false claims of victory and Joe and Kamala Harris's congratulatory call - here's the story of how the presidency was won
TV pundit moved to tears by election result and says: ‘This is vindication for a lot of people who have really suffered’
One of the most emotive responses to the announcement of Joe Biden becoming the new US president came from CNN political correspondent Van Jones. CNN was the first of the TV networks to call the election for Biden and moments after they did so the anchor, Anderson Cooper, asked Jones for his thoughts.
Related: US election live: Joe Biden wins and says 'It’s time for America to unite'
Continue reading...Donald Trump refused to formally concede the US election on Saturday, even as senior Republicans began to distance themselves from him, and as recriminations were reported among aides to a man doomed to go down as an impeached, one-term president.
Before the race was called, Trump continued to tweet his defiance and to attract censure for making baseless claims about voter fraud and his supposed victory. He also went to his course in Virginia to play golf. While he played, a defiant statement was issued in his name.
Continue reading...Kamala Harris shared a video of her calling to congratulate Joe Biden after the US presidential election was called for the Democratic candidate. 'We did it Joe,' Harris says, while apparently out on a walk with her husband. 'You're going to be the next president of the United States.'
Fox News announced Joe Biden would surpass the 270 electoral college votes needed to become president after calling the states of Nevada and Pennsylvania for the Democratic candidate.
Political commentator Van Jones cried as CNN called the US election for Joe Biden. Jones said: 'It's easier to be a parent this morning ... to tell your kids character matters'.
Joe Biden won the presidency by clinching Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes. With Biden’s victory, Kamala Harris becomes the first woman and the first person of color to become the vice-president
The future of a diminished superpower now lies in being part of a wider network of democracies
What is the best the world can now hope for from the United States under President Joe Biden, now that the election has been called for him? My answer: that the US will be a leading country in a post-hegemonic network of democracies.
Yes, that’s a, not the leading country. Quite a contrast to the beginning of this century, when the “hyperpower” US seemed to bestride the globe like a colossus. The downsizing has two causes: the US’s decline, and others’ rise. Even if Biden had won a landslide victory and the Democrats controlled the Senate, the United States’ power in the world would be much diminished. President Donald Trump has done untold damage to its international reputation. His disastrous record on handling Covid confirmed a widespread sense of a society with deep structural problems, from healthcare, race and infrastructure to media-fuelled hyper-polarisation and a dysfunctional political system.
Continue reading...