History has been made! Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the 2020 election.
Four days after polls closed, the President- and vice-president-elect's campaign was declared the winner following a win in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.
The Biden-Harris campaign victory is historic in more ways than one. Not only did Biden break the record for most votes received by a presidential candidate, amassing more than 70 million, but Harris has also become the first woman and the first Black and South Asian American to win the vice president position.
As no woman has ever served as vice president or President in US history, Harris' election to the office is groundbreaking for women and specifically Black and South Asian American women as it sends a powerful message of hope, change, and progress. Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, could play a major role in the shaping of policies for the Biden administration and the future of politics with the representation she brings as the new vp.
Biden and Harris' win comes amidst baseless claims of election fraud from outgoing President Donald Trump, who has yet to concede. According to CNN, Trump — who has been calling into question the legitimacy of mail-in votes, which clinched the win for Biden — told people before his loss that "he has no plans to concede even if his path to victory is blocked."
Biden's campaign though has not voiced concern at the prospect of Trump choosing to "fight" to remain in power. "As we said on July 19, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House," campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement ahead of the Biden-Harris win.
It should be noted that an outgoing President does not have to concede for the next President to take office. It's a courtesy.
The Democratic presidential ticket reached the 270 electoral votes required to win on Saturday (November 7) by flipping the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
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