The AP (Associated Press) has called the race, and it’s officially over: Donald Trump has beaten Kamala Harris 312 electoral votes to 226, ultimately winning the 2024 presidential election. What was initially predicted by publications such as MSNBC, ABC News, The Economist, etc., to be a much closer election—or even one entirely in Kamala Harris’s favor, as purported by the notoriously accurate election prognosticator Dr. Allan Lichtman—has instead ended in a landslide victory for Trump.
The 34-time felon, former 45th president of the United States and soon-to-be 47th won a staggering seven out of seven swing states, four of which have historically favored the Democratic Party since 2000. That is, until Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns—a phenomenon exemplifying the increasingly polarizing landscape of American politics.
Following the night of the election on Nov. 5, in the early morning hours of Nov. 6—when not all electoral votes were counted, but he had secured 276 after winning the state of Wisconsin (six more than the necessary 270)—Trump held a triumphant victory speech at his Mar-a-Lago estate watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida.
On stage, he referred to his Make America Great Again (MAGA) initiative as “the greatest political movement of all time,” and stated that his second term would usher in the “Golden Age of America.” Joined by his family and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, whom he said “turned out to be a good choice,” Trump also correctly called that Republicans would maintain control of the House of Representatives and shouted out billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, who aggressively campaigned on Trump’s behalf in the final stretch of the election—most notably through a $200 million endowment into the president-elect’s super Political Action Committee (PAC).
Conversely, Harris delivered a downcast concession speech that same night from her alma mater, Howard University, urging her supporters to “continue the fight that fueled this campaign.” Addressing a massive crowd of her followers, who had hoped to see her elected as the first female president in United States history, Harris stated that “the outcome of this election was not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
Subtly referencing Trump’s immediate denial of the 2020 election results—refusing to concede his electoral loss to the now-incumbent president, Joe Biden—she also affirmed that “a fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results.” Harris will preside over Congress’ counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6 to reaffirm Trump’s victory peacefully, a surrender that will underscore the president-elect’s continued denial of his own electoral loss over four years ago.
