Donald Trump claims ‘I won’ after Joe Biden declared next US president

FILES-US-VOTE-TRUMP
Donald Trump lost the election
AFP via Getty Images
Luke O'Reilly7 November 2020

Donald Trump has refused to accept the result of the US election after Joe Biden was declared the winner.

Mr Biden clinched victory on Saturday – some four days after polls closed – after a win in Pennsylvania pushed him over the threshold of 270 electoral college votes.

As the news broke on Saturday morning US time, many Americans took to the streets to express their joy after a knife-edge election cycle.

In New York City, crowds gathered in the streets and in Times Square, banging pots and pans together in impromptu parties to celebrate the Democrat’s win over Mr Trump.

FILES-US-VOTE-TRUMP
The president has refused to accept the result
AFP via Getty Images

However, the Republican incumbent made it clear on Twitter that he considered himself to the real winner,

Mr Trump wrote: “THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS.

“I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES.

“BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!”

Trump's supporters also refused to accept the result of the election.

Chanting "This isn't over! and "Stop the steal," supporters of President Donald Trump protested at state capitals across the country Saturday.

From Atlanta and Tallahassee to Bismarck, Boise and Phoenix, crowds ranging in size from a few dozen to a few thousand decried the news of Joe Biden's victory after more than three exhausting days of vote-counting put the Democrat over the top. Skirmishes broke out in some places.

In Atlanta, outside the state Capitol in the longtime Republican stronghold of Georgia, chants of "Lock him up!" rang out among an estimated 1,000 Trump supporters. Others chanted, "This isn't over! This isn't over!" and "Fake news!" The streets were awash with American flags and Trump banners.

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally outside the State Capitol building following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Some of Trump’s supporters protested the result
REUTERS

Meanwhile, Joe Biden's supporters celebrated his victory.

Car horns were sounded in the streets of many cities, including Los Angeles, while fireworks erupted in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jubilant demonstrators marched through Hollywood chanting “it’s a new day” as they celebrated Mr Biden’s election victory.

Activists carrying Black Lives Matter signs, Pride flags and placards bearing the names of people killed by police beat drums and danced along Sunset Boulevard as passing drivers in the liberal stronghold beeped their approval.

Many of the passing cars had American flags attached.

Biden’s supporters were jubilant
Getty Images

A demonstrator with a megaphone led calls of “show me what America looks like” and was joined on the march by masked protesters of different ages and races.

Joe Biden’s victory was powered by a broad and racially diverse coalition of voters driven to the polls by fierce opposition to President Donald Trump and anxiety over a deadly pandemic.

Both nationwide and in key battleground states across the Midwest and Sun Belt, the Democrat dominated with voters worried about the coronavirus and hungry for the federal government to do more to contain its spread, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide.

After four years of political turbulence under Mr Trump, Mr Biden handily won voters looking for a leader who could unify the country, and those pushing for racial justice.

More saw him as empathetic and honest, and willing to stand up to extremism, compared with the Republican incumbent.

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