Joe Biden elected as 46th President of the United States

Sydney McCall | Staff Writer

Biden and Harris at their COVID-19 Briefing: AP/Carolyn Kaster

After a four-day election process, Joseph R. Biden Jr. defeated President Trump to become the 46th President of the United States. Biden’s campaign was run as a “battle for the soul of the nation.”

Biden won with 290 electoral college votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win the presidency. His victory was announced after winning Pennsylvania. The president-elect received a total of 75,678,364 votes, the most votes for any presidential candidate in history, according to the Associated Press.

Biden’s triumph comes after one of the most tumultuous presidential elections in history. The president-elect routinely criticized the current administration’s handling of the COVID-19 and other key issues.

Black voters in urban cities helped deliver the election for Biden as about 87% of Black voters voted for the former vice president according to preliminary exit polling.

Black voters in urban cities like Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit helped swing their respective states blue. These cities are around 39% black, according to NBC news.

In his victory speech, Biden acknowledged the importance that Black Americans had in his win.

“When this campaign was at its lowest, the African American community stood up again for me,” Biden said. “They always have my back, and I’ll have yours.”

With the election of Biden comes the new Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris. Harris is the first female, first black, and first South Asian Vice President.

“We did it, we did it Joe. You’re going to be the next President of the United States,” Harris said on a phone call with Biden that she shared on Instagram.

Biden-Harris supporters gathered after the news of his win. Thousands of supporters spilled into the streets of Washington D.C. and other major U.S. cities singing and cheering. The Star Spangled Banner played through Capitol Hill as thousands screamed “It’s over.”

While Biden and Harris will not be officially sworn in until January 20, 2021, the pair have already shared their plans for their transition into the White House. On Nov. 9, Biden named a COVID-19 transition advisory board made up of distinguished public health experts. The president-elect also held a COVID-19 briefing, laying out his plans for the country as we move forward in the pandemic.

President Donald Trump has shown no intentions to concede. He claims that there was widespread voter fraud that cost him the election and his legal team has filed multiple lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, battleground states that he narrowly lost. There is currently no proof of any widespread voter fraud, according to the Associated Press. Trump is the first sitting president to not be re-elected since 1992.