Celebrations break out in US cities with dancing, honking horns and cheers filling the streets as Joe Biden is named the next president of the United States
Today at about 11:30 am, the media called the 2020 US presidential election. The winners are the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and his running mate-- the first woman elected to the vice presidency-- California Senator Kamala Harris.
The widespread sound of cheering, honking, pot-banging and more erupted in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, Minneapolis and other largely Democratic cities Trump has disparaged. Some rejoiced at the imminent departure of Trump from the White House, while others touted the historic ascendancy of Biden’s running mate, Kamala D. Harris, who will become the nation’s first Black and first Asian American woman vice president.
“No more years! No more years!” a crowd of hundreds chanted in Philadelphia.
Frankie Rowles, 32, was in a downtown Philadelphia food hall when the news broke. He ran into the streets and joined a growing crowd of celebrators across the street from the city’s convention center, where votes were tallied this week.
He immediately drew his cellphone and started live-streaming himself jumping up and down.
“Yeah we did it, Philadelphia! Aaaagh!”
He crouched down for a minute, gathering his thoughts. “I’m so proud of us,” he said.
A pro-Trump camp was set up across the street, blaring country music from a loudspeaker. Biden supporters danced to the music, strangers hugged, everyone cheered.
Adrienne Trice, 55, hugged her 11-year-old daughter Laila Williamson and swayed to the tunes.
A tear streamed down Laila’s cheek. As a young Black girl, she said she was heartened to see a Black woman take such a powerful seat.
“It’s about time,” she said.
Across the street, the mood was somber. “This is fraud, we know it’s fraud,” said a Trump supporter who declined to give his name. “We’re going to take it to the mat."
A growing crowd of Biden supporters — about 100 at noon — chanted: “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye!”
In New York, the show of support was especially reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic, when residents poured out of their apartments nightly to applaud hospital workers and first responders risking their lives to treat coronavirus patients. Shouting and music could be heard from rooftops across the city.
By the afternoon, a sea of people congregated in Times Square celebrating the Biden victory — a startling scene in a tourist hub that has been largely empty since the start of the pandemic. Broadway theaters have been dark since March and are not slated to reopen until late next year. A performer in head-to-toe tie-dye blared “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” from “The Wizard of Oz” from a speaker fixed to his bicycle.
The struggle to protect our democracy is not over, not by a long shot. Already Trump’s supporters are insisting that the vote was rigged and the election stolen, and they are vowing to fight. Popular right-wing media hosts are egging them on. Meanwhile, Trump’s term does not end until January 20, 2021, and he will almost certainly use that time to take revenge on those he blames for his loss, that is: us. The next two months are going to be rocky.
While this election saved democracy for now, the forces that gave rise to Donald Trump’s presidency have not been vanquished. America is still under siege by a right wing plutocracy who are trying to take control of the country. They win supporters by spinning a false narrative that feeds fear and fury to drive ordinary Americans apart. And, as we now know, 70 million voters are open to their narrative, even if it means children torn from their parents, half of the country demonized as anti-American, a lawless administration, a deep recession, and more than 230,000 Americans dead.
Biden is about to inherit an even more daunting set of challenges on Jan. 20 than he and President Barack Obama faced when they took office in 2009. During his mostly jubilant speech, Biden said he will name members of a coronavirus task force on Monday. The group, which could begin meeting within days, will be co-chaired by former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
“Our work begins with getting covid under control,” Biden said in his speech. “We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments — hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us — until we get this virus under control. … Together — on eagle’s wings — we embark on the work that God and history have called upon us to do.”
“We have the opportunity to defeat despair and to build a nation of prosperity and purpose. We can do it. I know we can,” Biden said. “Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our better angels to prevail.”
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the vice-president elect, introduced Biden as a “healer” with a “tested and steady hand.” She called him “a person whose own experience of loss gives him a sense of purpose that will help us, as a nation, reclaim our own sense of purpose.” She also emphasized that the time has come for healing. “Now is when the real work begins,” she said. “The road ahead will not be easy. But America is ready. And so are Joe and I.”
The man and the moment have finally met. “Biden, the son of a car salesman and a homemaker, the product of Catholic schools and public universities, the six-term senator and two-term vice president, has craved one title above all others in decades of trying and decades of failing. On Saturday, he won it,” Matt Viser and Sean Sullivan note. “The man who was wrong for the moment in two previous presidential campaigns had enough longevity to convince voters that he was right for this one. And now the man who was once one of the nation’s youngest senators will become the nation’s oldest president. … The president who triumphed four years ago on an outsider’s promise to ‘drain the swamp’ ultimately lost to a quintessential creature of Washington.”
“Biden knows what it means to be wounded by life. The stress tests he survived have built up his bones and strengthened his foundation,” writes critic-at-large Robin Givhan. “Leadership means carrying the burden so that others might breathe easier or can shine brighter. … As Biden inched his way to the presidency, his footsteps seemed heavier. It’s hard to bounce on one’s heels as the leader of the free world. But in that steadiness, there’s reassurance.”
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The world did not wait for Trump to concede to congratulate Biden. The six non-American heads of state in the G-7 congratulated Biden on his victory, including the U.K.’s Boris Johnson, who has been a Trump ally. Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has tied his political fortunes closely to Trump over the past four years, publicly congratulated the Democratic ticket, making a point of highlighting his “long & warm personal relationship” with Biden, whom he said he has known for 40 years. “Welcome back America,” tweeted Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the very first foreign leaders to congratulate Biden was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in a statement that he is “optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership” with the United States, including the “fight against corruption" and working to strengthen democracy in the face of Russian aggression. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House for “abuse of power” after allegedly coercing Zelensky last year to do him “a favor” by announcing an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden while simultaneously holding up the delivery of vital military assistance. Zelensky tweeted Saturday: “Our friendship becomes only stronger!”
The Republican-controlled Senate voted against convicting Trump. The lone GOP defector was Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the party’s 2012 nominee for president. On Saturday, Romney was the first Republican senator to congratulate Biden and call for a peaceful transition of power. He was joined a few hours later by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead,” Romney said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) stayed silent on Saturday and issued no statements after the race was called. Democrats would need to win both Senate runoffs in Georgia on Jan. 5 to take control of the Senate, which seems like a heavy lift. Assuming McConnell remains majority leader next year, the 78-year-old will need to manage a conference torn between factions with competing interests: Senators running for reelection in swing states in 2022 will ostensibly want to put points on the board while senators running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 will be eager to show the base that they're resisting Biden.
“Biden has often pointed to his long relationship with McConnell as evidence that he could find common ground with Republicans, at least often enough to get important things done. It’s true that as vice president, Biden was sometimes sent to Capitol Hill to cut deals with McConnell, when it was required, and sometimes he was successful. But the larger reality is that McConnell was an implacable adversary who once said that his highest priority was to prevent Obama from winning a second term,” Dan Balz notes.
“The posture McConnell adopts toward Biden will go some ways in determining whether the president-elect can begin to make good on his pledge to repair a broken government and show a way out of the rancorous politics of the day. But even if McConnell extends a friendlier hand to Biden than he did to Obama, its impact will be limited. McConnell is the leader of Republicans, and many others in his party — fellow senators and rank-and-file activists — will demand resistance and opposition to virtually every initiative Biden puts forward.”