The Results and Aftermath of the Presidential Election
On Saturday, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States. Currently, Biden has secured 290 of the 538 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 required to win the election. Meanwhile, President Trump has received 217 electoral votes. Three states have yet to be called––Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona. Georgia is expected to give its 16 electoral votes to Biden, making this election the first one in almost 30 years where Georgia has voted for the Democratic candidate. But President Trump will likely win North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes.
Trump has yet to concede the election. Instead, he has claimed that would-be Trump voters’ ballots were not counted, while invalid ballots, like those from non-U.S. citizens and deceased registered voters were. But even if these claims prove true, the result of the election will almost certainly stand. While no major news sources have taken President Trump’s allegations seriously, his campaign has already announced nearly a dozen lawsuits. Several of these cases have already been thrown out by judges, and it is unlikely that any of them will have a significant effect on the outcome of the election.
While Trump’s team and many of his supporters have not yet accepted the results, leaders around the globe, including Justin Trudeau of Canada, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Angela Merkel of Germany, have congratulated Joe Biden on his victory. Even Trump’s allies, like Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, have acknowledged Biden as the next President of the United States. However, a few countries have yet to follow suit; these nations include Russia, China, and Brazil. The Prime Minister of Slovenia, Melania Trump’s home country, has joined Trump in claiming the election was rigged..
In addition to shaping history, the results of this election have broken barriers. Kamala Harris in particular has attracted attention for becoming the first woman Vice President-elect, the first Black Vice President-elect, and the first South Asian Vice President-elect. Her husband Doug Emhoff will be the first Second Gentleman. Joe Biden will be the oldest President in American history. Donald Trump has become the tenth incumbent candidate to lose re-election for the presidency, and he may also become the first president to refuse to concede an election.
In his speech on Saturday, Biden told the attendees that he “seeks not to divide, but unify.” He emphasized the need to confront climate change, combat the pandemic, and rebuild unity between Americans.
The results of this election have led to a wide variety of reactions: on one end, many Democratic voters have spent the week celebrating in the streets, and on the other, President Trump’s supporters have protested Biden’s victory. There is no doubt that this election and its consequences will affect America for years to come. .