buzzfeed--2020-11-07--Joe Biden Will Be The Next President Of The United States

Biden won a historic number of votes and defeated a sitting president .
Now he will need to rush to address COVID-19 and deal with political divisions that Trump enabled .
Joe Biden has won the bitterly fought 2020 presidential election , bringing the former vice president into an office he had coveted for nearly five decades and ending the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump .
`` I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris , '' Biden said in a statement on Saturday morning .
`` With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation . ''
Sen. Kamala Harris will make history as the first woman , first Black woman , and first person of South Asian heritage to be elected vice president .
Trump ’ s time in office was marked by undermining public health measures during a pandemic that has killed more than 236,000 Americans , by weaponizing the functions of government against perceived opponents , and by boosting conspiracy theories and white supremacist groups .
Much of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be consumed by attempting to undo what Trump has done , with nothing more pressing than gaining control over the coronavirus .
The Electoral College may turn out to be tight : States that had appeared relatively safe for Biden turned out to be close , and the result was not the landslide win some polls had projected as possible .
The coalition of states Biden assembled included those that had previously gone for Trump , like Pennsylvania , Wisconsin , and Michigan .
The drawn-out process put the nation on edge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victory in several key states in the early morning hours following a long election night .
But in the popular vote , Biden won easily .
He commanded the most votes cast for any candidate ever in a US presidential race , more than 75 million .
And he defeated an incumbent who was wildly popular with his base — and who exasperated Democrats with a presidency built on racism , lies , and the appeasement of his own ego .
Biden ’ s attempts to govern will almost certainly collide with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but Trumpism was not .
Biden ran his campaign on a central , existential argument that Trump represented an aberration in US politics , and that American voters want a moderate , steady hand to return the country to some semblance of normalcy .
In short , Democrats wanted this election to resoundingly repudiate Trump and his politics .
The tensions Trump inflamed and capitalized on were present in this country before he came to power , and those divisions remain strong .
While the final vote tally won ’ t be known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million Americans voted for Trump .
Many of those voters believe Biden and other Democrats are corrupt , empowered by fraud , and unfit to lead , and they will form a vocal and zealous opposition .
Over the summer , the largest protests in American history centered on stopping police violence against Black people and rectifying systemic racism , proposals Trump and many of his followers rejected .
Unifying such a divided country , or even mitigating the partisan hostility , will be one of Biden ’ s most daunting tasks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Senate is still unknown , with the possibility that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be able to continue exercising his ironclad rule .
Early in his campaign , Biden leaned heavily into his years as a DC establishment figure and dealmaker , as a pragmatist with progressive ideals but bipartisan tendencies who would seek to work with McConnell , as he had when he was vice president .
But , as many progressive Democrats pointed out , McConnell ’ s strategy when Barack Obama was president was to oppose virtually everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McConnell will act any differently now .
And while resistance to the Democrats will make it relatively easy for McConnell to hold his ranks together , the deep splits between progressive and moderate Democrats could make it hard for Biden to keep his party unified .
Although Trump will leave office , he probably won ’ t leave the field .
He will still wield more than 88 million Twitter followers , hold sway over a Republican Party that has transformed to fit his image , and inspire millions who passionately feel he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the establishment — whether that means elites , government , or other institutions , including science .
He will likely seize every opportunity to oppose and undermine Biden .
Still , Biden will be president of the United States , with all of the official power that Trump has now lost .
He won a hard-fought campaign that was historic in a way that no one could have foreseen : COVID-19 forced sweeping closures of the basic functions of society and brought campaigning to a halt in March .
Biden chose to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on with large rallies where attendees were not required to wear masks — and many indeed did not .
It was a contrast that Trump , who last month was briefly hospitalized after being diagnosed with the coronavirus , hoped would make Biden look scared , weak , and unable to draw a crowd .
Biden , though , made Trump ’ s mishandling of the pandemic the central point of his campaign , hammering Trump for minimizing the danger early on and failing to control its spread .
Biden gave expansive speeches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take to recover from it , and he modeled safe behavior by observing strict social distancing and wearing masks at all public events .
The nature of the campaign — distanced , impersonal — was unwelcome for Biden , who has built his career since the 1970s on intimate human connection and visceral emotion .
His life and career have been shaped by grief , after his wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972 and then his son Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015 .
While meeting voters on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primary , he spent time connecting with them over their own losses , sometimes consoling people as he took selfies with them .
Then , as hundreds of thousands of Americans mourned loved ones who died from COVID-19 , Biden was able to speak to their pain .
“ There are moments in our history so grim , so heart-rending , that they ’ re forever fixed in each of our hearts as shared grief .
Today is one of those moments , ” Biden said in an address from his home in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I know how you ’ re feeling .
You feel like you ’ re being sucked into a black hole in the middle of your chest .
It ’ s suffocating , ” he said .
Trump , meanwhile , repeatedly blamed the death toll and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the US on a media conspiracy and his Democratic opponents .
He mocked wearing a mask as “ politically correct.
” It was after a largely maskless event to introduce Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the US Supreme Court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circle contracted the virus and the president himself had to be hospitalized .
In the final weeks of the campaign , the pandemic surged across the country , with cases rising in almost every state and the Midwest battleground region hit especially hard .
The two candidates often felt like they operated in alternate realities through the general election campaign .
Biden emphasized the very real toll the pandemic took on people ’ s lives ; Trump downplayed it , and emphasized the need to get the economy moving again .
Biden spent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerged for small events ; Trump held giant rallies as if nothing had changed , which in some cases likely led to coronavirus outbreaks .
But both candidates , for almost all of the race , made the campaign about Trump .
For Trump , it was the usual drive to be the center of attention and self-professed savior of the nation , occasionally referring to himself as “ your favorite president ” or comparing himself favorably to Abraham Lincoln .
For Biden , it was a constant invocation of the president ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his refusal to unequivocally condemn the white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville in 2017 to his cozying up to foreign authoritarians .
Biden invoked Charlottesville on day one of his campaign , arguing that he was leading a battle for the soul of the nation .
That theme persisted , a catchall for the existential threat Biden said Trump posed , be it to America ’ s decency or health and safety .
But near the end of the race , Trump did try to turn the election on Biden ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Rudy Giuliani to implicate Biden in an unclear nefarious plot in Ukraine and China with his son Hunter ( there is no evidence that the claims were true ) .
In their first debate , Trump raised Hunter ’ s history of drug addiction , a strategy that did n't gain much traction beyond the far right .
“ My son , like a lot of people , like a lot of people we know at home , had a drug problem , ” Biden responded .
“ He ’ s overtaken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he ’ s worked on it , and I ’ m proud of him.
” The second debate was canceled , when Trump refused to engage in a virtual debate after contracting the coronavirus .
The third was less hectic but did little to change the dynamics of the race .
This was Biden ’ s third run for president , and while he was the national polling leader for almost the entirety of the race , the campaign still carried a feeling of improbability .
His campaign for the Democratic nomination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions of plagiarism .
His 2008 bid collapsed after a poor showing in the Iowa caucus , though he would go on that year to be elected vice president under Barack Obama , the first Black president .
Biden routinely attached his legacy to Obama ’ s in this year ’ s historically diverse field of Democratic candidates , which included more women and people of color than any previous primary .
When Biden stumbled badly in Iowa ’ s caucuses and finished an embarrassing fifth in the New Hampshire primary , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Biden and his advisers argued that the race would turn in his favor in South Carolina , where a majority of Democratic voters are Black — and they were right .
Biden ’ s victory there triggered a mass clearing of the field , just as the coronavirus was beginning its spread in the US .
An ideological battle between the moderate Biden and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders quickly flamed out , and Sanders promptly endorsed Biden , emerging as one of his more dependable surrogates .
Trump , during his four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to repeal legislation and regulations that defined the Obama administration : protections for trans and gender-nonconforming children in schools and adults in the military , the DACA program for young people brought to the US as children , housing discrimination protections , and more .
How Biden , 77 , will govern is a major question after a campaign so overtaken by both the pandemic and the current president .
Before the pandemic , and before police shootings of George Floyd , Breonna Taylor , and Jacob Blake gained national attention , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pragmatist more than a progressive .
But as crises multiplied , Biden signaled he ’ d be more open to systemic and structural changes he never explicitly outlined .
Young progressive Americans for whom this summer ’ s protests were among the first defining political movements of their lives will be watching what Biden does as president to address insidious institutional racism , as well as crises such as climate change and gun violence .
“ I don ’ t think Biden ’ s age has to necessarily be the limitation on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s going to be up to the decisions he makes and those directing him make , ” Chokwe Lumumba , the 37-year-old mayor of Jackson , Mississippi , told BuzzFeed News in June .
“ We can ’ t play it safe and assume the energy around Donald Trump will go away.
” ●

Joe Biden has won the bitterly fought 2020 presidential election, bringing the former vice president into an office he had coveted for nearly five decades and ending the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump.
"I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris," Biden said in a statement on Saturday morning. "With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation."
Sen. Kamala Harris will make history as the first woman, first Black woman, and first person of South Asian heritage to be elected vice president.
Trump’s time in office was marked by undermining public health measures during a pandemic that has killed more than 236,000 Americans, by weaponizing the functions of government against perceived opponents, and by boosting conspiracy theories and white supremacist groups. Much of Biden’s first months in office will be consumed by attempting to undo what Trump has done, with nothing more pressing than gaining control over the coronavirus.
The Electoral College may turn out to be tight: States that had appeared relatively safe for Biden turned out to be close, and the result was not the landslide win some polls had projected as possible. The coalition of states Biden assembled included those that had previously gone for Trump, like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The drawn-out process put the nation on edge, and led Trump to falsely claim victory in several key states in the early morning hours following a long election night.
But in the popular vote, Biden won easily. He commanded the most votes cast for any candidate ever in a US presidential race, more than 75 million. And he defeated an incumbent who was wildly popular with his base — and who exasperated Democrats with a presidency built on racism, lies, and the appeasement of his own ego.
Biden’s attempts to govern will almost certainly collide with a hard fact: Trump was defeated, but Trumpism was not. Biden ran his campaign on a central, existential argument that Trump represented an aberration in US politics, and that American voters want a moderate, steady hand to return the country to some semblance of normalcy. In short, Democrats wanted this election to resoundingly repudiate Trump and his politics.
That did not happen.
The tensions Trump inflamed and capitalized on were present in this country before he came to power, and those divisions remain strong. While the final vote tally won’t be known for some time, more than 70 million Americans voted for Trump. Many of those voters believe Biden and other Democrats are corrupt, empowered by fraud, and unfit to lead, and they will form a vocal and zealous opposition. Over the summer, the largest protests in American history centered on stopping police violence against Black people and rectifying systemic racism, proposals Trump and many of his followers rejected. Unifying such a divided country, or even mitigating the partisan hostility, will be one of Biden’s most daunting tasks.


buzzfeed--2020-11-07--21 Tweets About John King That Are The Only Thing Making Me Laugh Right Now

Anderson Cooper 2.0 has been explaining and commentating on the election as the votes come in for what seems like @ @ @ @ @ literally on CNN until 4:30 a.m. last night and then came back to continue at @ @ @ @ @ UNSTOPPABLE .

He's election Santa. I have no idea what he does the rest of the year, but THIS IS HIS NIGHT TO SHINE. And he's doing it. So here are a bunch of tweets about our map-tapping hero John King that actually made me laugh in between my soul-sucking anxiety.


buzzfeed--2020-11-07--Updates: Joe Biden Has Won The Presidential Election

He also tweeted a video Saturday morning and vowed to be `` a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not . ''
`` I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris .
In the face of unprecedented obstacles , a record number of Americans voted .
Proving once again , that democracy beats deep in the heart of America , '' Biden said in a statement after the race was called .
`` With the campaign over , it ’ s time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind us and come together as a nation . ''
Biden has won the 2020 election , after new results from Pennsylvania on Saturday morning showed there was no path for Trump to win the state .
Biden has won the Electoral College , as well as the popular vote by a significant margin , and Trump has no path to victory .
Trump said his campaign will bring their case to court `` to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated '' on Monday , even though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over ballot counting in several states have already been tossed out due to a lack of evidence .
In a statement issued while he was golfing in Virginia , Trump claimed that Biden was `` rushing to falsely pose as the winner '' because he `` has not been certified as the winner of any states '' and accused the media of trying to help Biden .
It took a while to get here .
Here are all the major updates .
After five agonizing days of counting the votes , the 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic nominee , has won .
America , I ’ m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country .
The work ahead of us will be hard , but I promise you this : I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not .
I will keep the faith that you have placed in me .
Biden declared “ we ’ re going to win this race ” as he inched closer to victory — 11 p.m .
ET As the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states that are expected to send Joe Biden to the White House , the former vice president said in a late night address that while he has not officially been named the winner of the presidential election , it was only a matter of time .
“ We do n't have a final declaration of victory yet , but the numbers ... tell us a clear and convincing story .
We ’ re going to win this race , ” Biden said .
In Pennsylvania , just over 82,000 mail-in ballots remained to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state ’ s website , including about 31,000 in Allegheny County and almost 21,000 in Philadelphia County , areas where voters have favored Biden .
Those numbers did not include provisional ballots , which state House Speaker Bryan Cutler said could top 100,000 , the Philadelphia Inquirer reported .
In Nevada , election officials had an estimated 124,500 ballots left to count Friday evening , not including provisional ballots or ballots that needed to be cured , according to the Nevada secretary of state ’ s office .
About 90 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where Las Vegas is located and more than 70 % of the state ’ s population lives .
Officials in Clark County said they hoped to finish counting the mail-in ballots by Sunday .
Despite continued declines in his margin over Trump in Arizona , Biden was ahead by 29,861 votes with roughly 171,000 ballots left to be counted , including provisional ballots , according to the secretary of state ’ s office .
Decision Desk HQ data analyst explains its Pennsylvania ( and election ) call — 10:45 a.m .
ET @ @ @ @ @ @ @ determined Joe Biden won the presidential election after it called the state of Pennsylvania for the Democrat on Friday morning , pushing him over the threshold of 270 electoral votes .
Other decision desks and many outlets — including BuzzFeed News — have not yet called Pennsylvania for Biden , even though he is now leading in the count there over President Donald Trump .
( BuzzFeed News partners with Decision Desk HQ to use its election data and display its projected results . )
For close and consequential race calls , BuzzFeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ source and conduct independent reporting and analysis .
The Associated Press explained here why it is waiting to call Pennsylvania .
Drew McCoy of DDHQ told BuzzFeed News that his organization made its Pennsylvania call based on the size of the new vote tallies coming in , the margin at which those votes were going to Biden , where those votes were coming from ( mostly from Philadelphia and Allegheny County , where Pittsburgh is located ) , and how many more votes from those areas still had to be counted .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there still to be counted is coming from areas and methods that have gone very strongly for Joe Biden , and the fact there were still ballots to be counted in Philadelphia , we were very comfortable making the call , ” he said .
McCoy made contrasts between Pennsylvania and Georgia , another battleground state where Biden pulled ahead by a razor-thin margin early on Friday .
Georgia has fewer outstanding votes than Pennsylvania , and the margin between Trump and Biden there is much smaller .
“ It 's not simply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken the lead , therefore they ’ re going to win , ’ ” McCoy said .
In Georgia , the narrow margin between the candidates is “ probably going to a recount , ” he said .
Georgia ’ s secretary of state confirmed shortly after on Friday morning that there will be a recount .
Decision Desk HQ still has not made a call in Arizona , where Fox News and the Associated Press have already projected a win for Biden .
With more than 95 % of the total vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a slim lead ( 47,000 votes ) over Trump .
McCoy said Biden ’ s initial wide lead in Arizona , which narrowed as early ballots that leaned Republican were counted , showed that “ the dynamics of the state , the electorate , are a little different.
” Decision Desk HQ is waiting for more rounds of votes to be tallied to see how that state will ultimately fall .
But analysts at DDHQ have seen enough in Pennsylvania to make their call , he said .
They expect the margin to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not fall in the recount range ( less than 0.5 % ) .
Though DDHQ called Wisconsin for Biden on Wednesday afternoon with the margin between the candidates under 1 % — which allows the defeated candidate to request a recount , which the Trump campaign has said it will do — McCoy said that narrow margin was still a difference of about 20,000 votes , and recounts historically have only added or subtracted a few hundred votes for candidates .
McCoy said he does not want to speculate on why other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added , “ We are extremely confident in this call .
We are standing behind it , and [ there are ] no doubts about the outcome here . ''
Nate Silver , editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight.com , told ABC News he also believes Biden ’ s lead is very solid in Pennsylvania , citing the strength of mail-in ballots and so-called provisional votes , meaning people who were sent a postal ballot but decided to vote in person .
“ Those are very Democratic this year because Democrats were scared their votes wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not really been included in the count so far , so that will further increase Joe Biden ’ s lead , ” he said .
“ I think there is not a path back for the president.
” Biden takes the lead in Pennsylvania — 8:56 a.m .
ET With more vote tallies coming in from Philadelphia this morning , Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania .
There are currently 163,501 mail-in ballots left to be counted , according to the current numbers from the Pennsylvania secretary of state ; 58,642 of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Allegheny County , which includes Pittsburgh .
The rest are from counties with fewer voters .
If Biden wins Pennsylvania , which has 20 electoral votes , he will be elected president .
Biden takes the lead in Georgia , a historically red state — 4:20 a.m .
ET America woke up on Friday to the news that the Democratic nominee has pulled ahead in Georgia as absentee ballots from cities like Atlanta and Savannah and their suburbs were tallied .
The margin is razor thin , though , according to Decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballots left to count , Biden leads by just 1,096 votes .
Read up on what happens if there 's a recount in Georgia .
The race for president tightens in key states — 2:30 a.m .
ET , Friday President Donald Trump ’ s leads in Georgia and Pennsylvania continued to shrink Thursday night as more absentee ballots were counted .
In Georgia , just over 14,000 ballots remained outstanding as of 10:35 p.m .
ET , according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , leaving Trump with a margin of fewer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Pennsylvania , roughly 163,500 ballots were left to count , including 58,642 in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia County , according to the secretary of state ’ s website .
Trump was leading Biden by 18,224 votes , according to Decision Desk HQ .
In Arizona , Biden ’ s lead continued to narrow as election officials in Maricopa County , the state ’ s most populous county , released the results of about 70,000 more ballots .
It ’ s the only state where absentee ballots being tabulated since election night @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generally lean Democratic ) .
County officials there still have about 204,000 ballots left to process and count .
They planned to release another batch of results Friday morning .
Mark Kelly is elected to the Senate — 10:42 p.m .
ET Decision Desk HQ calls the highly anticipated special election for Kelly , a Democrat , who is the husband of former Arizona representative Gabby Giffords and a NASA astronaut .
It 's the second time Martha McSally lost a Senate race in two years ; she first lost to Democrat Kyrsten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Arizona 's other Senate seat after then-senator John McCain died .
Both Georgia Senate races are heading to runoff elections in January — 7:14 p.m .
ET Republican Sen. David Perdue will not reach 50 % of the vote in his reelection race against Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia , forcing a runoff between two candidates in January , Decision Desk HQ projected on Thursday night .
Both of Georgia ’ s Senate seats will now be up for grabs in the Jan. 5 election after Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler was forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warnock .
It is increasingly likely that whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate next year will hinge on those two races .
By Thursday afternoon , Nevada had at least 63,262 ballots outstanding .
Officials said they hope to be done with the bulk of the counting by Saturday or Sunday .
As for Georgia , Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that as of 5:45 p.m. today there are approximately 36,331 ballots still outstanding .
Later in the afternoon , around 5:15 p.m .
ET , Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ count several hundred thousand mail-in ballots and is expecting to be done counting the overwhelming majority of them on Friday .
According to the state ’ s website , there are still 326,000 votes to be counted .
Biden urges Americans to `` stay calm '' while waiting for the final results — 4:41 p.m .
ET In an address Thursday afternoon , Biden urged Americans to “ stay calm ” as the country waits for the election results .
“ The process is working .
The count is being completed , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ In America , the vote is sacred .
It ’ s how people of this nation express their will .
It is the will of the voters — no one , not anything else — that chooses the president of the United States of America .
So each ballot must be counted.
” He went on to say that democracy `` is sometimes messy , '' and that it requires patience .
Biden said he and Sen. Kamala Harris “ continue to feel very good about where things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have no doubt ” that they ’ ll be named the winners when the count is finished .
The Biden campaign remains confident , urges people to be patient — 11:17 a.m .
ET The Biden campaign continues to project confidence about the election results .
On a press call , campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said they are expecting to win Pennsylvania and Nevada once all the votes are counted , though North Carolina remains `` tight . ''
`` Our data shows that Joe Biden will be the next president of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , urging patience .
`` The story today is going to be a very positive story for the vice president .
But folks need to stay patient and stay calm .
… We ’ re very confident with whatever happens with the timing and the counting , Joe Biden will win . ''
Bob Bauer , a Biden campaign adviser , also dismissed the lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign as `` meritless '' and `` doomed to fail . ''
We 're now in day three of the election , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as ever to find out who won the election .
All eyes are on Pennsylvania , Georgia , Nevada , North Carolina , and Arizona as vote-counting in these battleground states continues .
Overnight , there were scattered protests and clashes with law enforcement in a few cities , but no major unrest .
In Phoenix and Detroit , two cities that could end up determining the outcome of their states ' election results , Trump supporters gathered outside ballot-counting centers to protest how votes were being tallied .
Decision Desk HQ has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a Democrat who faced an unexpectedly fierce challenge from Republican John James .
Despite Peters ' win , it remains unlikely that Democrats will take control of the Senate at this point .
Trump campaign and his supporters challenge vote-counting — 7:19 p.m .
ET The Trump campaign has begun pouring resources into efforts to stop officials from counting legitimate votes , mounting lawsuits in several states to challenge how ballots are being counted .
It ’ s trickled down to his supporters as well ; buoyed by the president ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump supporters stormed a ballot counting center in Michigan on Wednesday to disrupt vote counting , chanting “ stop the count ” and “ stop the vote.
” Michigan goes to Biden — 5:04 p.m .
ET Decision Desk HQ has called Michigan , a state both Trump and Biden campaigned heavily in , for the Democratic nominee .
With its additional 16 electoral votes , Biden has a total of 253 electoral votes as of Wednesday afternoon .
Biden again expresses confidence in a win , saying `` every vote must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ET In his second speech since polls closed last night , Biden remained confident about winning key swing states and said he believes he has a clear path to earning the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency .
`` I 'm not here to declare that we 've won , but I am here to report when the count is finished , we believe we will be the winners , '' he said .
`` Only three presidential campaigns in the past have defeated an incumbent president .
When it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the fourth . ''
He also touched on the country 's deep partisan divisions , saying , `` I 'm confident we 'll emerge victorious .
But this will not be my victory alone or our victory alone .
It will be victory for the American people , for our democracy , for America . ''
Biden is the first presidential candidate in history to receive more than 70 million votes — 3:58 p.m .
ET Biden now has the highest number of popular votes ever received by a candidate running for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and AP 's count , smashing President Obama ’ s record in 2008 .
He is currently leading the popular vote count against Trump , and with votes still being counted in Nevada , Arizona , Michigan , North Carolina , Georgia , and Pennsylvania , his tally is expected to increase .
Decision Desk HQ has called Wisconsin , which has 10 electoral votes , for the Democratic nominee .
The state has been hit especially hard by COVID-19 , and though pundits had speculated that Trump 's response to the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's favor , the former vice president ended up winning by a razor-thin margin .
However , Wisconsin remains a crucial win for Biden ; it 's a key state in the `` blue wall '' of the Midwest that went to Trump in 2016 .
Decision Desk calls the Senate race for Collins .
The Maine Republican said she had received a `` very gracious call from Sara Gideon conceding the race . ''
Collins faced a tough challenge from Gideon , who raised a whopping $ 63.6 million since launching her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vowed to oust Collins from her seat after she voted for Brett Kavanaugh , who had been accused of sexual assault , to the Supreme Court .
There are still six Senate seats that are undecided , but Collins ’ victory in Maine makes the path for Democrats to take control of the Senate very difficult .
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win the Senate or three to tie , in which case ties would be broken by Sen. Kamala Harris if she wins the vice presidency .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up a seat from Republicans in Arizona , where Democrat Mark Kelly is currently leading Sen. Martha McSally , though Decision Desk HQ has not yet called the race .
They ’ ll also need to hold on to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters ’ seat in Michigan ; he 's currently locked in a very tight race .
Then they ’ d need another two or three wins in some combination of red states : North Carolina , Alaska , and Georgia .
Georgia has two Senate seats up for grabs ( because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of them has already gone to a runoff , which won ’ t take place until Jan. 5 , 2021 .
Democrat Raphael Warnock will face Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in that race .
It ’ s not impossible for Democrats to retake the Senate , but it is looking less and less likely .
Trump campaign calls for Wisconsin recount — 12:50 p.m .
ET State officials say that virtually every vote in Wisconsin has been counted at this point , with Biden in the lead with 20,000 more votes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said the campaign will request a recount `` immediately . ''
Wisconsin is a critical state for the president , one that his campaign has signaled it 's not going to concede without a fight .
Wisconsin also went to a recount in 2016 , and it ended with Trump expanding his narrow lead over Hillary Clinton by 131 votes .
This is all way too close to call .
It ’ s going to take some time before we know who won the presidency — 3:47 a.m .
ET Election Day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results are not in .
Key battlegrounds states , including Wisconsin , Michigan , and Pennsylvania , are still tallying votes , and it could take days until we know who won those states .
As results trickled in throughout the evening , it became increasingly clear that the election wouldn ’ t be a landslide win for Biden , like many Democrats had hoped for .
Biden was not able to flip key states , including Florida , but is still holding out hope to win Arizona and to rebuild the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The overall picture is fluid as officials continue to count votes in a set of very close battleground states .
State officials in Michigan and Pennsylvania have warned it could be days before all ballots , including in-person voting and mail-in ballots , are counted .
In Georgia , officials continue counting Atlanta-area ballots , which may or may not decide the election there .
In Wisconsin , the election looks very close as well .
Trump is lying about the early election results — 3:01 a.m .
ET Trump , in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential race , falsely spun incomplete election results to make it sound like there was some sort of fraud preventing him from winning reelection .
There was absolutely no evidence to back up any of his claims .
Trump lied about early results in key swing states , where scores of mail-in votes have not been counted , and claimed he had already won .
He said he did not want those legitimate votes to be counted , and vowed to take his case — which election lawyers have already said has no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is Trump ’ s boldest attempt to undermine the American election system : essentially declaring victory , or claiming a victory was stolen from him , instead of waiting for the actual votes to be counted .
Sen. Steve Daines won reelection in Montana , defeating former governor Steve Bullock — 3:04 a.m .
ET Republican Sen. Steve Daines won reelection in Montana , Decision Desk HQ has projected , defeating former governor Steve Bullock .
Bullock , who briefly ran for president this year , had been a top recruitment target @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s other Senate seat despite the state ’ s red tilt .
But Bullock ’ s popularity as governor was not enough to overcome Daines .
Bullock ’ s loss is another blow to Democrats who hope to regain control of the Senate , but his loss doesn ’ t shut down their opportunities to do so .
Democrats will need a net gain of three Senate seats if they win the White House , and four if they don ’ t , in order to take control of the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overturned a Republican seat , but there are still six Senate races in which they hope to do so .
There is also a race in Michigan where Republicans have a shot at overturning a blue seat , currently held by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters .
New Jersey , Arizona , Montana , and South Dakota legalize weed — 2:57 a.m .
ET In news that sent group chats ablaze ( sorry ) tonight , residents in New Jersey , Arizona , and South Dakota voted to legalize recreational cannabis .
The new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ petition the courts to have their past cannabis convictions expunged .
New Jersey ’ s measure will likely push forward the timeline for neighboring states like New York and Pennsylvania to do the same .
Over in Washington , DC , residents voted to decriminalize the use of psychedelic substances , including magic mushrooms .
Decision Desk HQ has called the battleground state , with its 10 electoral votes , for Biden .
Biden wins Nebraska 's 2nd Congressional District ; the last polls have closed — 1:05 a.m .
ET Though Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nabbed 1 of its electoral votes after winning a congressional district .
Because this election is already looking extremely tight , this single electoral vote could significantly increase Biden 's chances of reaching 270 electoral votes .
The last polls in Alaska have closed .
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst won reelection in Iowa on Tuesday night , defeating Democrat Theresa Greenfield .
Decision Desk HQ called the race as Ernst led by about 6 points , in a highly contested election .
Ernst ’ s victory makes it that much tougher , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Senate .
The party still needs at least three Senate seats and a White House victory ( or four Senate seats if President Donald Trump is reelected ) to take the Senate .
They currently have zero net gains with seven races outstanding where the party has been competitive .
One of those races , one of two Senate elections in Georgia tonight , is already heading for a runoff election on Jan. 5 between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock .
There is also one Democratic seat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where Republicans have a chance of making gains .
Trump claims `` we are up big '' — 12:44 a.m .
ET In his first tweet since the polls closed on Election Day , Trump claims `` they are trying to STEAL the Election , '' and reminded supporters that `` Votes can not be cast after the Poles are closed . ''
He quickly deleted his tweet and posted another without the typo , and Twitter immediately flagged it as potentially misleading .
Biden addresses his supporters in Delaware — 12:42 @ @ @

Biden declared “we’re going to win this race” as he inched closer to victory — 11 p.m. ET
As the nation waited for race calls in key states that are expected to send Joe Biden to the White House, the former vice president said in a late night address that while he has not officially been named the winner of the presidential election, it was only a matter of time.
“We don't have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers ... tell us a clear and convincing story. We’re going to win this race,” Biden said.
In Pennsylvania, just over 82,000 mail-in ballots remained to be counted, according to the secretary of state’s website, including about 31,000 in Allegheny County and almost 21,000 in Philadelphia County, areas where voters have favored Biden. Those numbers did not include provisional ballots, which state House Speaker Bryan Cutler said could top 100,000, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
In Nevada, election officials had an estimated 124,500 ballots left to count Friday evening, not including provisional ballots or ballots that needed to be cured, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s office. About 90% of the remaining ballots were in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located and more than 70% of the state’s population lives. Officials in Clark County said they hoped to finish counting the mail-in ballots by Sunday.
Despite continued declines in his margin over Trump in Arizona, Biden was ahead by 29,861 votes with roughly 171,000 ballots left to be counted, including provisional ballots, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Decision Desk HQ data analyst explains its Pennsylvania (and election) call — 10:45 a.m. ET
The election analysis firm Decision Desk HQ determined Joe Biden won the presidential election after it called the state of Pennsylvania for the Democrat on Friday morning, pushing him over the threshold of 270 electoral votes.
Other decision desks and many outlets — including BuzzFeed News — have not yet called Pennsylvania for Biden, even though he is now leading in the count there over President Donald Trump. (BuzzFeed News partners with Decision Desk HQ to use its election data and display its projected results.)
For close and consequential race calls, BuzzFeed News will often wait for a second source and conduct independent reporting and analysis. The Associated Press explained here why it is waiting to call Pennsylvania.
Drew McCoy of DDHQ told BuzzFeed News that his organization made its Pennsylvania call based on the size of the new vote tallies coming in, the margin at which those votes were going to Biden, where those votes were coming from (mostly from Philadelphia and Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located), and how many more votes from those areas still had to be counted.
“So given the fact the vote out there still to be counted is coming from areas and methods that have gone very strongly for Joe Biden, and the fact there were still ballots to be counted in Philadelphia, we were very comfortable making the call,” he said.
McCoy made contrasts between Pennsylvania and Georgia, another battleground state where Biden pulled ahead by a razor-thin margin early on Friday. Georgia has fewer outstanding votes than Pennsylvania, and the margin between Trump and Biden there is much smaller.
“It's not simply a question of ‘a candidate has taken the lead, therefore they’re going to win,’” McCoy said. In Georgia, the narrow margin between the candidates is “probably going to a recount,” he said. Georgia’s secretary of state confirmed shortly after on Friday morning that there will be a recount.
Decision Desk HQ still has not made a call in Arizona, where Fox News and the Associated Press have already projected a win for Biden. With more than 95% of the total vote tallied, the Democratic nominee currently holds a slim lead (47,000 votes) over Trump.
McCoy said Biden’s initial wide lead in Arizona, which narrowed as early ballots that leaned Republican were counted, showed that “the dynamics of the state, the electorate, are a little different.” Decision Desk HQ is waiting for more rounds of votes to be tallied to see how that state will ultimately fall.
But analysts at DDHQ have seen enough in Pennsylvania to make their call, he said. They expect the margin to be close but are confident that it will not fall in the recount range (less than 0.5%). Though DDHQ called Wisconsin for Biden on Wednesday afternoon with the margin between the candidates under 1% — which allows the defeated candidate to request a recount, which the Trump campaign has said it will do — McCoy said that narrow margin was still a difference of about 20,000 votes, and recounts historically have only added or subtracted a few hundred votes for candidates.
McCoy said he does not want to speculate on why other outlets have not called Pennsylvania, but added, “We are extremely confident in this call. We are standing behind it, and [there are] no doubts about the outcome here."
Nate Silver, editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight.com, told ABC News he also believes Biden’s lead is very solid in Pennsylvania, citing the strength of mail-in ballots and so-called provisional votes, meaning people who were sent a postal ballot but decided to vote in person. “Those are very Democratic this year because Democrats were scared their votes wouldn’t be counted. Those have not really been included in the count so far, so that will further increase Joe Biden’s lead,” he said. “I think there is not a path back for the president.”
Biden takes the lead in Pennsylvania — 8:56 a.m. ET
With more vote tallies coming in from Philadelphia this morning, Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania. There are currently 163,501 mail-in ballots left to be counted, according to the current numbers from the Pennsylvania secretary of state; 58,642 of those are from Philadelphia, and 36,584 from Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. The rest are from counties with fewer voters.
If Biden wins Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, he will be elected president.
Biden takes the lead in Georgia, a historically red state — 4:20 a.m. ET
America woke up on Friday to the news that the Democratic nominee has pulled ahead in Georgia as absentee ballots from cities like Atlanta and Savannah and their suburbs were tallied.
The margin is razor thin, though, according to Decision Desk HQ; with 1% of ballots left to count, Biden leads by just 1,096 votes.
Read up on what happens if there's a recount in Georgia.
The race for president tightens in key states — 2:30 a.m. ET, Friday
President Donald Trump’s leads in Georgia and Pennsylvania continued to shrink Thursday night as more absentee ballots were counted.
In Georgia, just over 14,000 ballots remained outstanding as of 10:35 p.m. ET, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, leaving Trump with a margin of fewer than 2,000 votes over Joe Biden. In Pennsylvania, roughly 163,500 ballots were left to count, including 58,642 in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia County, according to the secretary of state’s website. Trump was leading Biden by 18,224 votes, according to Decision Desk HQ.
In Arizona, Biden’s lead continued to narrow as election officials in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, released the results of about 70,000 more ballots. It’s the only state where absentee ballots being tabulated since election night have consistently favored Trump (mail-in ballots generally lean Democratic). County officials there still have about 204,000 ballots left to process and count. They planned to release another batch of results Friday morning.
Mark Kelly is elected to the Senate — 10:42 p.m. ET
Decision Desk HQ calls the highly anticipated special election for Kelly, a Democrat, who is the husband of former Arizona representative Gabby Giffords and a NASA astronaut.
It's the second time Martha McSally lost a Senate race in two years; she first lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in 2018, but was appointed to Arizona's other Senate seat after then-senator John McCain died.
Both Georgia Senate races are heading to runoff elections in January — 7:14 p.m. ET
Republican Sen. David Perdue will not reach 50% of the vote in his reelection race against Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia, forcing a runoff between two candidates in January, Decision Desk HQ projected on Thursday night.
Both of Georgia’s Senate seats will now be up for grabs in the Jan. 5 election after Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler was forced into her own runoff against Democrat Raphael Warnock. It is increasingly likely that whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate next year will hinge on those two races.
The counting continues — 5:58 p.m. ET
By Thursday afternoon, Nevada had at least 63,262 ballots outstanding. Officials said they hope to be done with the bulk of the counting by Saturday or Sunday.
As for Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that as of 5:45 p.m. today there are approximately 36,331 ballots still outstanding.
Later in the afternoon, around 5:15 p.m. ET, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the state still has to count several hundred thousand mail-in ballots and is expecting to be done counting the overwhelming majority of them on Friday.
According to the state’s website, there are still 326,000 votes to be counted.
Biden urges Americans to "stay calm" while waiting for the final results — 4:41 p.m. ET
In an address Thursday afternoon, Biden urged Americans to “stay calm” as the country waits for the election results.
“The process is working. The count is being completed, and we’ll know very soon,” he said. “In America, the vote is sacred. It’s how people of this nation express their will. It is the will of the voters — no one, not anything else — that chooses the president of the United States of America. So each ballot must be counted.”
He went on to say that democracy "is sometimes messy," and that it requires patience.
Biden said he and Sen. Kamala Harris “continue to feel very good about where things stand” and added that they “have no doubt” that they’ll be named the winners when the count is finished.
The Biden campaign remains confident, urges people to be patient — 11:17 a.m. ET
The Biden campaign continues to project confidence about the election results. On a press call, campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said they are expecting to win Pennsylvania and Nevada once all the votes are counted, though North Carolina remains "tight."
"Our data shows that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States," O'Malley Dillon said, urging patience. "The story today is going to be a very positive story for the vice president. But folks need to stay patient and stay calm. … We’re very confident with whatever happens with the timing and the counting, Joe Biden will win."
Bob Bauer, a Biden campaign adviser, also dismissed the lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign as "meritless" and "doomed to fail."
Vote-counting continues — 9:02 a.m. ET, Thursday
We're now in day three of the election, and anxious, sleep-deprived Americans are as eager as ever to find out who won the election.
All eyes are on Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona as vote-counting in these battleground states continues.
Overnight, there were scattered protests and clashes with law enforcement in a few cities, but no major unrest. In Phoenix and Detroit, two cities that could end up determining the outcome of their states' election results, Trump supporters gathered outside ballot-counting centers to protest how votes were being tallied.
Gary Peters wins reelection — 7:30 p.m. ET
Decision Desk HQ has called Michigan's Senate seat for Peters, a Democrat who faced an unexpectedly fierce challenge from Republican John James. Despite Peters' win, it remains unlikely that Democrats will take control of the Senate at this point.
Trump campaign and his supporters challenge vote-counting — 7:19 p.m. ET
The Trump campaign has begun pouring resources into efforts to stop officials from counting legitimate votes, mounting lawsuits in several states to challenge how ballots are being counted. It’s trickled down to his supporters as well; buoyed by the president’s false and misleading claims on social media, Trump supporters stormed a ballot counting center in Michigan on Wednesday to disrupt vote counting, chanting “stop the count” and “stop the vote.”
Michigan goes to Biden — 5:04 p.m. ET
Decision Desk HQ has called Michigan, a state both Trump and Biden campaigned heavily in, for the Democratic nominee. With its additional 16 electoral votes, Biden has a total of 253 electoral votes as of Wednesday afternoon.
Biden again expresses confidence in a win, saying "every vote must be counted" — 4:10 p.m. ET
In his second speech since polls closed last night, Biden remained confident about winning key swing states and said he believes he has a clear path to earning the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
"I'm not here to declare that we've won, but I am here to report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners," he said. "Only three presidential campaigns in the past have defeated an incumbent president. When it's finished, god willing, we'll be the fourth."
He also touched on the country's deep partisan divisions, saying, "I'm confident we'll emerge victorious. But this will not be my victory alone or our victory alone. It will be victory for the American people, for our democracy, for America."
Biden is the first presidential candidate in history to receive more than 70 million votes — 3:58 p.m. ET
Biden now has the highest number of popular votes ever received by a candidate running for president, based on Decision Desk HQ and AP's count, smashing President Obama’s record in 2008. He is currently leading the popular vote count against Trump, and with votes still being counted in Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, his tally is expected to increase.
Biden wins Wisconsin — 2:56 p.m. ET
Decision Desk HQ has called Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral votes, for the Democratic nominee. The state has been hit especially hard by COVID-19, and though pundits had speculated that Trump's response to the pandemic would swing the state harder in Biden's favor, the former vice president ended up winning by a razor-thin margin.
However, Wisconsin remains a crucial win for Biden; it's a key state in the "blue wall" of the Midwest that went to Trump in 2016.
Susan Collins wins reelection — 1:14 p.m. ET
Decision Desk calls the Senate race for Collins. The Maine Republican said she had received a "very gracious call from Sara Gideon conceding the race."
Collins faced a tough challenge from Gideon, who raised a whopping $63.6 million since launching her campaign last summer. Liberal groups had vowed to oust Collins from her seat after she voted for Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused of sexual assault, to the Supreme Court.
There are still six Senate seats that are undecided, but Collins’ victory in Maine makes the path for Democrats to take control of the Senate very difficult. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win the Senate or three to tie, in which case ties would be broken by Sen. Kamala Harris if she wins the vice presidency. The party has a good shot at picking up a seat from Republicans in Arizona, where Democrat Mark Kelly is currently leading Sen. Martha McSally, though Decision Desk HQ has not yet called the race. They’ll also need to hold on to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in Michigan; he's currently locked in a very tight race. Then they’d need another two or three wins in some combination of red states: North Carolina, Alaska, and Georgia. Georgia has two Senate seats up for grabs (because of a special election), but one of them has already gone to a runoff, which won’t take place until Jan. 5, 2021. Democrat Raphael Warnock will face Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in that race.
It’s not impossible for Democrats to retake the Senate, but it is looking less and less likely.
Trump campaign calls for Wisconsin recount — 12:50 p.m. ET
State officials say that virtually every vote in Wisconsin has been counted at this point, with Biden in the lead with 20,000 more votes. Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, said the campaign will request a recount "immediately."
Wisconsin is a critical state for the president, one that his campaign has signaled it's not going to concede without a fight. Wisconsin also went to a recount in 2016, and it ended with Trump expanding his narrow lead over Hillary Clinton by 131 votes.
This is all way too close to call. It’s going to take some time before we know who won the presidency — 3:47 a.m. ET
Election Day came and went, and the final results are not in. Key battlegrounds states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, are still tallying votes, and it could take days until we know who won those states.
As results trickled in throughout the evening, it became increasingly clear that the election wouldn’t be a landslide win for Biden, like many Democrats had hoped for. Biden was not able to flip key states, including Florida, but is still holding out hope to win Arizona and to rebuild the “blue wall” in the Midwest.
The overall picture is fluid as officials continue to count votes in a set of very close battleground states. State officials in Michigan and Pennsylvania have warned it could be days before all ballots, including in-person voting and mail-in ballots, are counted.
In Georgia, officials continue counting Atlanta-area ballots, which may or may not decide the election there. In Wisconsin, the election looks very close as well.
Trump is lying about the early election results — 3:01 a.m. ET
Trump, in a 2:30 a.m. address during an extremely tight presidential race, falsely spun incomplete election results to make it sound like there was some sort of fraud preventing him from winning reelection. There was absolutely no evidence to back up any of his claims.
Trump lied about early results in key swing states, where scores of mail-in votes have not been counted, and claimed he had already won. He said he did not want those legitimate votes to be counted, and vowed to take his case — which election lawyers have already said has no grounds — to the Supreme Court.
This is Trump’s boldest attempt to undermine the American election system: essentially declaring victory, or claiming a victory was stolen from him, instead of waiting for the actual votes to be counted.
Sen. Steve Daines won reelection in Montana, defeating former governor Steve Bullock — 3:04 a.m. ET
Republican Sen. Steve Daines won reelection in Montana, Decision Desk HQ has projected, defeating former governor Steve Bullock. Bullock, who briefly ran for president this year, had been a top recruitment target for Democrats, who already occupy the state’s other Senate seat despite the state’s red tilt. But Bullock’s popularity as governor was not enough to overcome Daines.
Bullock’s loss is another blow to Democrats who hope to regain control of the Senate, but his loss doesn’t shut down their opportunities to do so. Democrats will need a net gain of three Senate seats if they win the White House, and four if they don’t, in order to take control of the Senate. So far, they have not overturned a Republican seat, but there are still six Senate races in which they hope to do so. There is also a race in Michigan where Republicans have a shot at overturning a blue seat, currently held by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota legalize weed — 2:57 a.m. ET
In news that sent group chats ablaze (sorry) tonight, residents in New Jersey, Arizona, and South Dakota voted to legalize recreational cannabis. The new measure in Arizona also allows people to petition the courts to have their past cannabis convictions expunged.
New Jersey’s measure will likely push forward the timeline for neighboring states like New York and Pennsylvania to do the same.
Over in Washington, DC, residents voted to decriminalize the use of psychedelic substances, including magic mushrooms.
Biden wins Minnesota — 1:52 a.m. ET
Decision Desk HQ has called the battleground state, with its 10 electoral votes, for Biden.
Trump takes Montana — 1:41 a.m. ET
The state has 3 electoral votes.
Biden wins Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District; the last polls have closed — 1:05 a.m. ET
Though Trump won the state of Nebraska, Biden nabbed 1 of its electoral votes after winning a congressional district. Because this election is already looking extremely tight, this single electoral vote could significantly increase Biden's chances of reaching 270 electoral votes.
The last polls in Alaska have closed.
Joni Ernst wins reelection — 12:45 a.m. ET
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst won reelection in Iowa on Tuesday night, defeating Democrat Theresa Greenfield. Decision Desk HQ called the race as Ernst led by about 6 points, in a highly contested election.
Ernst’s victory makes it that much tougher, but not impossible for Democrats to win control of the Senate. The party still needs at least three Senate seats and a White House victory (or four Senate seats if President Donald Trump is reelected) to take the Senate. They currently have zero net gains with seven races outstanding where the party has been competitive. One of those races, one of two Senate elections in Georgia tonight, is already heading for a runoff election on Jan. 5 between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock.
There is also one Democratic seat, that of Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan, where Republicans have a chance of making gains.
Trump claims "we are up big" — 12:44 a.m. ET
In his first tweet since the polls closed on Election Day, Trump claims "they are trying to STEAL the Election," and reminded supporters that "Votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed." He quickly deleted his tweet and posted another without the typo, and Twitter immediately flagged it as potentially misleading.
Biden addresses his supporters in Delaware — 12:42 a.m. ET


buzzfeed--2020-11-08--Joe Biden's Long Wait Is Over: Relief And Celebration In A Painful Year

About 96 hours after polls closed , with his staff scattered around the country , Biden delivered the speech he had to put off for four straight nights — one his family had been waiting to hear for decades .
WILMINGTON , Delaware — About five hours before polls closed on Election Day , 21 empty pickup trucks appeared in the parking lot of the Chase Center , sitting in two careful rows facing the stage where Joe Biden was supposed to address the nation in a victory speech later that evening .
The fleet of Jeep Gladiators and Jeep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Chevy Silverados , had been arranged in alternating colors of red , white , and blue , all with open backs or sun roofs , and hoods stamped with BIDEN-HARRIS decals .
They were reserved for the family and friends who would be arriving with Biden to his socially distanced “ drive-in ” rally — the proverbial front row in a sea of other cars .
Sitting opposite a freshly installed panel of bulletproof glass , US Secret Service protection befitting a president-elect , they had the clean and perfect look of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paint gleaming in the sun .
In the style of a tailgate , aides had placed a pair of blue folding chairs in the back of each truck .
By 11 p.m. , it was clear there wouldn ’ t be a final result that night .
Light-up foam batons , stamped with the campaign logo for guests in the parking lot , never got distributed .
After midnight , when Biden finally did arrive , his motorcade sped into the parking lot of the adjacent Westin hotel , and his party took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was his brother Jimmy Biden , Jill Biden ’ s sisters , and the former vice president ’ s sister , Valerie Biden Owens , watching from the roof of a Jeep .
They had waited a long time for this night .
Around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday , they finally got to see him take the stage , only to say “ we ’ re going to have to be patient ” and “ keep the faith.
” After three minutes , Biden waved goodbye , and headed home .
So began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with every new batch of results from Wisconsin , then Michigan , then Arizona , Georgia , Nevada , and Pennsylvania , seeming to throw the election into a new phase of uncertainty .
Joe Biden didn ’ t get his big party the way most presidents-elect do .
He didn ’ t get one on the next night , or on the night after that , or on the night after that .
The stage , the lights , and the Jeeps sat in position , looking both unmoved and resolute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and like the shadow of the blowout that some Democrats had hoped for early in the week .
The hundreds of people who worked for the Biden campaign , already divided physically by the restrictions of a pandemic , were left to process the swings of the week from a distance , many of them on Zoom calls or alone .
President Donald Trump made a deliberate attempt to undermine the vote , muddying things further .
Biden inched closer and closer to a decisive victory .
The country waited and waited and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours after polls closed and 48 years to the day after his first election to the Senate , Biden delivered the speech he had to put off for four straight nights .
The uncertainty and stress of the week , and the eerie desolation that took over the parking lot in the intervening days , seemed to give way to a shared joy and relief and , finally , to a party .
All day , people had been gathering in Wilmington ’ s surrounding Riverfront district eager to see history .
Hundreds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Supporters stood outside them , wearing their masks , waving their American flags , sipping beer from cans and other beverages from conspicuous red cups .
It was a proud hometown crowd , quite likely the largest crowd Biden had drawn since declaring his candidacy 18 months ago .
For the Biden campaign , big celebrations have been scarce .
He decided to run , he said , after seeing white supremacists and Nazis protest in Charlottesville , Virginia , in 2017 , without the president ’ s explicit condemnation .
Few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
By the time voting began with the caucuses in Iowa , the first contest of the nominating process , Biden was looking at a fourth-place finish .
Campaign aides were drafting exit memos .
The remarkable turnaround that came just a few weeks later , beginning with a third-place finish in Nevada and a 30-point win in South Carolina , almost immediately ran up against the reality of the coronavirus .
In March , on the very night that sealed his path to the nomination , states started to shut down , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a quiet , chaotic place , distanced and alone together .
When Biden accepted the Democratic nomination this summer , he wasn ’ t able to share the moment with his family .
“ I will be an ally of the light , not the darkness , ” Biden said in his speech that night .
Only his wife got to accompany him backstage .
There is no confetti , it turns out , at a virtual convention .
Even in victory , the central promise of Biden ’ s campaign — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the nation ” and return a sense of normalcy to America ’ s institutions of government — has begun to look like a more far-off and distant proposition in the days since Tuesday .
The tightness of the race bucked national polling and delivered a narrow repudiation of Trump and his politics , which showed staying power and strength even in defeat .
Democrats lost key races in the House , diminishing their party ’ s power there , and have a supremely difficult path to the majority in the Senate they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left the White House as vice president , having touted his ability to work with the other party with a kind of old-fashioned folksy brand of politics , Biden will return to a different Washington in January .
Trump ’ s model of Republicanism runs strong and deep , and his top allies and his children are already commanding allegiance from the next wave that might rise to seek the party ’ s nomination in 2024 .
The first supporter of QAnon , the delusional conspiracy theory that Trump is fighting a satanic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress .
And on Saturday , after networks and the Associated Press called the race , Trump refused to concede , standing by unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud .
“ For all those of you who voted for President Trump , I understand your disappointment tonight , ” Biden said Saturday , acknowledging his two previously unsuccessful presidential campaigns , in 1988 and 2008 .
“ I ’ ve lost a couple times myself.
” “ But now , let ’ s give each other a chance , ” Biden added , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ To make progress , ” he said , “ we must stop treating our opponents as our enemies .
They are not our enemies , they are Americans !
” Fractured through the lens of this week ’ s chaos — with conflicting network calls , procedural questions about mail-in ballots , and an intense focus on pockets of the country ( Maricopa County , the Pennsylvania Convention Center ) — Biden projected a calm and somber confidence , reassuring the country that everything would be OK on the other side .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a campaign aide led the few reporters left in Wilmington across the parking lot , past the Jeeps , through a side-door of the Chase Center , for another appearance from the candidate .
Scattered around outside was an empty bottle of Merlot and a discarded face mask .
Folding chairs in the press pen , arranged the night before an equidistant six feet apart on the pavement , had been left in haphazard formation , like their occupants had departed in a hurry .
On one , an empty hotel room service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the convention hall , lined with eight US flags , seemed prepared for a president-elect ’ s morning-after news conference .
As Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris took their places , a brief cheer , loud and awkward , erupted from the back of the room from the small group of campaign aides who had traveled to Wilmington for the election .
“ It 's been a long and difficult campaign , ” Biden said .
“ But it 's been a more difficult time for our country , a hard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before .
We 've faced dark times before .
So once this election is finalized and behind us , it 'll be time for us to do what we 've always done as Americans : to put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us .
To lower the temperature .
To see each other again .
To listen to one another .
To hear each other again.
” Throughout the week , his campaign manager Jen O ’ Malley Dillon hosted daily Zoom briefings , laying out projections for the outstanding vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transition website , saying he was dedicated to preparing for his possible administration and would “ continue preparing at full speed.
” That afternoon , he and Harris attended briefings on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic , which is deep in a deadly third wave that has brought the total number of American deaths to more than 236,000 .
On Friday , Biden aides believed they would finally get their call , going public with plans for a victory party , broadcast live on primetime television .
The networks held off , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stage , empty and waiting , to address reporters inside the Chase Center .
“ As slow as it goes , it can be numbing , ” he said of watching the numbers come in on TV .
“ But never forget : The tallies are n't just numbers .
They represent votes and voters , men and women who exercise the fundamental right to have their voice heard.
” The commercial plaza that houses the Chase Center , alongside the Westin and a large Planet Fitness , is made up of mostly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem like the place that would mark the end of the Trump presidency .
This was not the Javits Center , where a grand celebration on election night in 2016 , complete with twinkling lights , a glass ceiling , and a custom-built America-shaped stage , ended with Hillary Clinton supporters sobbing on the ground .
The scene here at the Chase Center , inside a perimeter lined with jersey fencing and guarded by Secret Service agents , was something more muted and uncertain .
As the world waited for the result , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The parking lot outside the stage was quiet , except for the media tents set up around the perimeter .
On Wednesday , the CBS News crew set up a grill for their remaining stay .
Inside the Westin , returns came all week long on a single television , positioned near the automatic double-doors of the lobby , playing CNN on low volume .
Outside , a sign advertised brunch at the hotel : “ Did somebody say ... Mimosa ?
!
” Political writers in search of people to talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a US senator from Delaware and a close friend to Biden , who celebrated his own reelection Tuesday night by wandering between the Westin lobby and the parking lot drive-in rally .
Coons would reappear throughout the week , the outstretched arms of reporters holding audio recorders not far behind .
On the first election night , when results looked uncertain , Tom Perez , the Democratic National Committee chair , ignored inquiries .
His party had drawn 27 candidates with the shared aim of picking the candidate to defeat Trump .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said , hurrying into the elevator shortly after 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning , following Biden ’ s first speech at the Chase Center , saying curtly that he would hold off on commenting until Biden spoke again .
On Wednesday , when a small group of reporters spotted senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn as she left the hotel , they quickly surrounded her .
“ You guys can not stand this close to me , OK ?
” Dunn admonished them as they followed her into the parking lot for an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ properly social distance .
She nonetheless offered the campaign ’ s prevailing message of confidence that 270 electoral votes soon would belong to Biden .
The campaign ’ s presence was more felt than seen throughout the week , largely via the daily Zoom briefings and in tweets from reporters sharing anonymous quotes from sources mirroring their boss ’ s sturdy and calm confidence .
“ We feel good .
We are going to win today , ” one campaign official told a CNN reporter on Wednesday .
( They did not win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at least not according to the AP and networks until 11:25 a.m. on Saturday . )
“ We ’ re going to pull this off , but it ’ s not going to be painless , ” another said in a text message that morning .
( And it wasn ’ t . )
Biden staffers worked Election Day — and election night , and the days after of unknowns — in a state of displacement .
The campaign limited how many could be on site in Wilmington , leaving most operatives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Philadelphia headquarters , or in Washington , DC , or scattered elsewhere across the country .
It was , for the Biden team , an extension of how they worked for months during the pandemic : a presidential campaign run largely by telecommute .
They ’ ve had to celebrate big moments , such as Biden ’ s speech accepting the Democratic nomination in August , and wrestle with tragedy , such as the police killing of George Floyd , alone or in small groups .
Many who joined the campaign or DNC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ met their colleagues in person .
There was no central boiler room for campaign staff Tuesday , but rather virtual offices on Zoom and “ mini boiler rooms ” where aides could watch together at a distance .
Biden ’ s DC-based pollsters gathered at the headquarters of Lake Research Partners to watch returns Tuesday night , where they wore masks , worked out of separate conference rooms , and ordered separate rather than communal food .
The campaign ’ s chief pollster , John Anzalone , joined via Zoom .
They were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , “ trying to ‘ be together ’ as much as possible.
” “ This is my team and today is the first time I ’ m meeting them , ” the person said .
Sabrina Bousbar , the campaign ’ s regional organizing director in Florida , quarantined in an Airbnb she and several coworkers rented for the final weeks of the campaign , after they all tested negative for COVID-19 .
Her team turned their virtual canvassing office on Zoom into an election results watch party.
“ I think our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things that are safe for us that they ’ re still pumped to get together on a call , ” Bousbar said .
William Fairfax , the campaign ’ s trips director in Michigan and a cochair of the HBCU Students for Biden group , watched returns with his parents and sister in Prince George ’ s County , Maryland .
“ It ’ s weird to not be celebrating like I was in the South Carolina primary with hundreds of people around us , ” Fairfax said Tuesday night by telephone .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ watch party in Michigan , somewhere probably in Detroit , ” Fairfax added .
“ Although I ’ m not spending it the way I thought I was going to be spending it , I ’ m spending it the safe way.
” Biden spent much of the actual day of the election on a nostalgia tour , designed less , it seemed , to bring in last-minute votes than for his own personal enjoyment .
He stopped by his childhood home in Scranton , Pennsylvania , where he scrawled on a living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the White House with the grace of God.
” He flew back home to Wilmington , where he walked around town ( “ Got ta let me back in the neighborhood , ya know ” ) and stopped at the Joseph R. Biden Jr .
Aquatic Center , the pool where he once worked as a lifeguard , regaling reporters with a long and winding story about what he learned about the country during his campaign .
That morning , he and Jill visited their son Beau Biden ’ s grave at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Brandywine .
At the headstone , a simple structure under a small sloping tree in the cemetery , people had already laid fresh flowers and campaign pins next to a BIDEN-HARRIS sticker , taped to the bottom-right corner of the grave .
Biden ’ s son would have been 51-years-old on the year his dad became president-elect .
The president-elect was home when the final call came at 11:25 a.m .
In a picture shared by Biden ’ s granddaughter Naomi , he could be seen surrounded by family , their arms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , his son Hunter clutching his father at the center .
On Saturday night , the Biden family returned to the Jeeps at the Chase Center .
Event organizers had moved the cars even closer to the stage to be sure that Biden would be able to see his family from the podium .
As soon as he took the stage , making his first public moment as president-elect , he put his hand over his eyes and scanned the crowd for familiar faces — “ the people who brought me to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I see my buddy Sen. Tom Carper down there , ” he said , pointing down at the Jeeps at the senior senator from Delaware , who wore a Biden ’ 88 pin on his lapel .
“ And I think Sen. Coons is there , and I think the governor ’ s around , and , I — is that Ruth Ann ?
!
Former governor Ruth Ann Minner !
” When his family joined him on stage , Biden got to see his name light up the sky with fireworks that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and “ 46.
” He pointed overhead , keeping his eyes turned upward , his mouth open in a smile .
Everyone was gathered around him : Jill and Kamala and her husband Doug , and their two kids ; his daughter Ashley , dancing on stage ; Hunter and his wife Melissa ; the grandkids Naomi , Finnegan , Maisy , and Beau ’ s children , Natalie and Robert .
In his arms , Biden held his newest grandson to his chest , Hunter ’ s seven-month-old .
“ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told the crowd at his party .
At the end of the night , the motorcade circled around the Chase Center .
Cars let out a final round of honks and cheers .
The family trickled out , walking backstage one by one until it was just Biden and his wife .
He didn ’ t want to leave .
●

On Saturday, about 96 hours after polls closed, Biden delivered the speech he had to put off for four straight nights. The uncertainty and stress of the week, and the eerie desolation that took over the parking lot in the intervening days, seemed to give way to a shared joy and relief and, finally, to a party.
All day, people had been gathering in Wilmington’s surrounding Riverfront district eager to see history. Hundreds of cars made it into the lot. Supporters stood outside them, wearing their masks, waving their American flags, sipping beer from cans and other beverages from conspicuous red cups. It was a proud hometown crowd, quite likely the largest crowd Biden had drawn since declaring his candidacy 18 months ago.
For the Biden campaign, big celebrations have been scarce. He decided to run, he said, after seeing white supremacists and Nazis protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, without the president’s explicit condemnation. Few thought he could win the Democratic primary. By the time voting began with the caucuses in Iowa, the first contest of the nominating process, Biden was looking at a fourth-place finish. Campaign aides were drafting exit memos. The remarkable turnaround that came just a few weeks later, beginning with a third-place finish in Nevada and a 30-point win in South Carolina, almost immediately ran up against the reality of the coronavirus. In March, on the very night that sealed his path to the nomination, states started to shut down, ending in-person campaigning and transforming the country into a quiet, chaotic place, distanced and alone together. When Biden accepted the Democratic nomination this summer, he wasn’t able to share the moment with his family. “I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” Biden said in his speech that night. Only his wife got to accompany him backstage. There is no confetti, it turns out, at a virtual convention.
Even in victory, the central promise of Biden’s campaign — a call to “restore the soul of the nation” and return a sense of normalcy to America’s institutions of government — has begun to look like a more far-off and distant proposition in the days since Tuesday. The tightness of the race bucked national polling and delivered a narrow repudiation of Trump and his politics, which showed staying power and strength even in defeat. Democrats lost key races in the House, diminishing the party’s power there, and did not sail to the Senate majority they expected. Four years after he left the White House as vice president, having touted his ability to work with the other party with a kind of old-fashioned folksy brand of politics, Biden will return to a different Washington in January. Trump’s model of Republicanism runs strong and deep, and his top allies and his children are already commanding allegiance from the next wave that might rise to seek the party’s nomination in 2024. The first supporter of QAnon, the delusional conspiracy theory that Trump is fighting a satanic cabal of people who sexually abuse children, is headed to Congress. And on Saturday, after networks and the Associated Press called the race, Trump refused to concede, standing by unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud.
“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” Biden said Saturday, acknowledging his two previously unsuccessful presidential campaigns, in 1988 and 2008. “I’ve lost a couple times myself.”
“But now, let’s give each other a chance,” Biden added, to approving honks from the cars. “To make progress,” he said, “we must stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies, they are Americans!”
Fractured through the lens of this week’s chaos — with conflicting network calls, procedural questions about mail-in ballots, and an intense focus on pockets of the country (Maricopa County, the Pennsylvania Convention Center) — Biden projected a calm and somber confidence, reassuring the country that everything would be OK on the other side.


buzzfeed--2020-11-08--Kamala Harris Is The First Woman Vice President-Elect But Says She "Won’t Be The Last"

Dressed in the white of suffragettes , Kamala Harris addressed the nation Saturday in a speech that traced the arc of history to the moment she was elected as the country ’ s first woman vice president .
At the center of her words were Black women , to whom Harris , the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica , credited her historic achievement .
Black women , Harris said , “ are too often overlooked , but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy.
” Harris will be the first Black woman vice president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ descent to hold the office .
It was a reflection of the weight of history in Harris ’ s election that she spoke Saturday , on a night usually reserved for the president-elect .
It reflected , too , the huge importance Harris ’ s selection has had for Joe Biden ’ s campaign , providing a jolt of energy and inspiration for many Democrats , as well as a vision of the future that Biden , a 77-year-old white man , could not offer .
As she introduced Biden , Harris praised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president.
” She began , though , with her mother , Shyamala Gopalan Harris , who came to the United States at 19 .
“ Maybe she didn ’ t quite imagine this moment , ” Harris said .
“ But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.
” “ So I ’ m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Native American women throughout our nation 's history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.
” She placed her election in history , saying she was thinking of the “ struggle ” of the women who came before her to secure voting rights for women , of “ their determination and the strength of their vision , to see what can be unburdened by what has been .
I stand on their shoulders.
” And she spoke directly to “ every little girl watching , ” and to what could come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first woman in this office , ” Harris said , “ I won ’ t be the last .
”

Dressed in the white of suffragettes, Kamala Harris addressed the nation Saturday in a speech that traced the arc of history to the moment she was elected as the country’s first woman vice president.
At the center of her words were Black women, to whom Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, credited her historic achievement. Black women, Harris said, “are too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy.”
Harris will be the first Black woman vice president and first person of South Asian descent to hold the office. It was a reflection of the weight of history in Harris’s election that she spoke Saturday, on a night usually reserved for the president-elect.
It reflected, too, the huge importance Harris’s selection has had for Joe Biden’s campaign, providing a jolt of energy and inspiration for many Democrats, as well as a vision of the future that Biden, a 77-year-old white man, could not offer.
As she introduced Biden, Harris praised him for having “the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president.”
She began, though, with her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who came to the United States at 19. “Maybe she didn’t quite imagine this moment,” Harris said. “But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.”
“So I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women. Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation's history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.”
She placed her election in history, saying she was thinking of the “struggle” of the women who came before her to secure voting rights for women, of “their determination and the strength of their vision, to see what can be unburdened by what has been. I stand on their shoulders.”
And she spoke directly to “every little girl watching” and to what could come next.
“While I may be the first woman in this office,” Harris said, “I won’t be the last.”


buzzfeed--2020-11-08--Here's How Women Reacted To Kamala Harris Speaking For The First Time As The Vice President-Elect

Wearing a white suit in a nod to suffragettes who came before her , Kamala Harris on Saturday spoke for the first time as as the vice president-elect .
As the first woman , Black woman , and South Asian vice president-elect , Harris broke a number of barriers on the Democratic ticket , and women had a strong reaction as she delivered her victory speech .
People immediately took notice of her white suit as she stepped up on stage , an obvious nod to the suffragette movement that fought to win women the right to vote .
Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her who fought for women 's rights , and for their right to vote .
`` Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all , '' Harris said , singling out Black women in her speech .
`` Including the Black women who are often , too often , overlooked but so often proven they are the backbone of our democracy . ''
The daughter of immigrants , Harris was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother , and quickly rose to political prominence as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a senator representing the state .
After breaking a series of barriers for women and immigrants in the US , Harris 's speech was an emotional one for many women witnessing the historic moment as she spoke for the first time as the vice president-elect .
For some women , the moment was not just important for them , but for the younger generations who would know a woman , and daughter of immigrants , had a place in the White House .

Harris immediately acknowledged the fight of women before her who fought for women's rights, and for their right to vote.
"Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all," Harris said, singling out Black women in her speech. "Including the Black women who are often, too often, overlooked but so often proven they are the backbone of our democracy."
The daughter of immigrants, Harris was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother, and quickly rose to political prominence as attorney general of California and then as a senator representing the state.