Politics

Joe Biden elected as 46th U.S. president; Kamala Harris will become first woman to serve as U.S. vice president

by Charlie Smith on November 7th, 2020 at 8:36 AM
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      U.S. networks are projecting Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

      It came after his lead in Pennsylvania grew so large that they deemed there was no chance of President Donald Trump narrowing the gap.

      With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Biden has a 34,414-vote lead in Pennsylvania. He was born in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 20, 1942.

      Winning Pennsylvania gives him 20 votes in the Electoral College, lifting his national total to 273. He needed 270 to win.

      The news has led to spontaneous street celebrations in U.S. cities.

      Biden will be 78 years old when he's sworn in on January 20, 2021, making him the oldest elected president in U.S. history.

      According to some media reports, Trump has no intention of conceding the election.

      Biden's 56-year-old running mate, California senator Kamala Harris, will become the first woman and the first person of Asian and Black ancestry to be elected vice president.

      Biden has promised to introduce a "real strategy" to beat COVID-19, which has claimed 237,000 lives in America. Nearly 10 million positive tests for the disease have been recorded under Trump's watch. 

      In addition, Biden has pledged a "comeback package for Main Street businesses and entrepreneurs" while extending COVID-crisis unemployment insurance.

      A key part of his economic plan is to invest in modern infrastructure and a clean-energy future while lifting the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

      He's also declared that he will mobilize across-the-board efforts to advance racial equity.

      And for cannabis users, Biden will decriminalize weed at the federal level and expunge the criminal records of those who've been busted for possession of pot.

      CNN commentator Van Jones became very emotional once it became clear that Biden had been elected.

      Biden received enormous support from his rivals in the Democratic presidential-nomination race, including Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar.

      For his part, Trump has issued a number of tweets this morning that Twitter has said "might be misleading about an election or other civic process".

      "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!" Trump declared in capital letters.

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