‘Madness And Hellscape’: Voters Return Trump to White House
Republican becomes first felon to win the presidency
Donald Trump won election as the next president of the United States after a campaign driven by harsh, racist rhetoric and bizarre public behavior.
The Republican prevailed in remarkably strong terms, flipping several swing states back to the “red” column. And, for the first time in three campaigns for the White House, he won the popular vote outright.
Trump also won despite being a convicted felon and having fomented a violent insurrection at the US Capitol nearly four years ago. He will also be only the second American to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House along with Grover Cleveland more than a century ago.
Trump’s win was an unexpected jolt for many Americans, as he had been flagging in many public opinion polls, including a late poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris ahead in the red state of Iowa.
But the reality was that Harris fell far short nearly everywhere. She won predictably Democratic Illinois by just four points, and New Jersey by about the same amount.
Many political analysts — like so many Americans in general — woke up Wednesday morning still absorbing the news of a new Trump presidency and often struggled for words adequate to describe what happened.
Democrats lost key races for the US Senate and appeared on-track to lose their narrow majority there.
“We talked about a red wave two years ago that never materialized. I’ve got to say this is the biggest red wave I’ve seen since Ronald Reagan’s 49-state victory in 1984. It seems that every Republican across the country improved,” said Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman from Florida and current cable news host who has been a fierce Trump critic.
Scarborough’s colleague at MSNBC, Michael Steele — the former chairman of the Republican National Committee who also has opposed Trump — voiced similar sentiments.
“I think what Trump has opened up — yeah, it’s a Pandora’s Box of madness and hellscape. We get that,” Steele said. “But he’s also opened up the American electorate in a way that no other presidential candidate has. And that includes Reagan and [Bill] Clinton.”
Harris has not yet spoken publicly about the election results, and supporters at her election party at her alma mater of Howard University in Washington DC, were asked to go home around 1 am Wednesday.
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