Kamala Harris yet to speak as Trump wins White House Kamala Harris has lost her bid to become America’s first woman leader, as her Republican rival Donald Trump surged to a decisive victory in the US presidential election.
The vice-president is yet to speak, despite it becoming clear by Wednesday morning that Trump had secured wins in several key swing states.
Harris cancelled her expected election night appearance at Howard University in Washington DC, where she was an undergraduate, after Trump gained momentum as early results began to trickle in.
The Republican swept the key battleground states – racking up wins in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin – to claim 279 electoral votes to 223.
Trump is also beating Harris in the popular vote – the first Republican to lead nationally since George W Bush in 2004.
As expected, Trump stormed to victory in conservative strongholds across the US, while Harris won liberal states from New York to California.
A senior Trump adviser told the BBC’s US partner CBS that they expected Harris to call the president-elect to concede defeat – which Trump refused to do in 2020.
The party-like atmosphere of a few hours earlier at Howard had already turned sour as two swing states were called for Trump.
Had she claimed victory, the former California senator would have become the first woman, black woman and South Asian-American to win the presidency.
North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice-weekly US Election Unspun newsletter.
Despite Trump’s victory, Kamala Harris has not yet spoken.
Donald Trump, Kamala Harris’s Republican opponent, won the US presidential election with a landslide victory, ending her hopes of becoming the country’s first female leader.
Even though it became evident by Wednesday morning that Trump had won in a number of crucial swing states, the vice president has not yet commented.
As early results started to come in, Harris canceled her planned election night appearance at her undergraduate institution, Howard University in Washington, DC, as Trump gained momentum.
The Republican won 279 electoral votes to 223 after sweeping the crucial battleground states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. The names of several states are still pending.
Almost immediately, early predictions indicated that Trump would win the crucial battleground states that had flipped back to the Democrats in the 2020 election. The Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin was destroyed, and he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In the popular vote, Trump is also surpassing Harris, making him the first Republican to take the lead nationally since George W. Bush in 2004.
While Harris won liberal states from New York to California, Trump, predictably, swept to victory in conservative strongholds across the United States.
Her 15-week campaign, which had focused on abortion rights, did not, however, garner enough support to defeat Trump nationwide, according to early exit poll data.
The Democrat is anticipated to speak later on Wednesday but has not yet made any statements. According to a senior Trump adviser who spoke to the BBC’s US partner CBS, Harris should call the president-elect to admit defeat, something Trump declined to do in 2020.
On Tuesday night, the vice president was scheduled to speak to supporters, but shortly after midnight, campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond declared she would not be there.
He had stated, “We still have votes to count,” at the time.
The mood at Howard, which had been festive just hours before, had already soured as Trump was called for in two swing states. The mood at Harris HQ is “pretty grim right now,” Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li told the BBC.
Only in July, after pressure from within the Democratic Party caused President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race, did 60-year-old Vice President Harris emerge as the party’s nominee. If she had declared victory, the former senator from California would have become the first South Asian American, Black woman, and woman to be elected president.
However, CBS exit poll data indicates that the Democratic nominee might have performed poorly when it came to women.
Approximately 54% of female voters voted for her, according to the data. However, in 2020, 57% of women voted for Joe Biden.
Additionally, Associated Press exit poll data showed that Black and Latino voters were marginally less likely to support Harris than they were to support Biden four years prior.
Armies of attorneys were waiting for legal challenges on and after election day for both sides.
Additionally, law enforcement agencies around the country were on high alert for possible violence.
Over half of the approximately 30 fictitious bomb threats that were directed at election-related sites across the country on Tuesday were in Georgia alone, according to CBS.
.
