WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden was set to address the nation on Thursday after a stinging election defeat for his Democratic Party at the hands of Republican Donald Trump, whose stunning political comeback has reverberated around the world.
Biden, who was replaced in July as the Democrats’ candidate in the race by Vice President Kamala Harris due to concerns about his mental acuity after a stumbling debate with Trump, will speak at 11am local time (11pm Thursday Thailand time), the White House said.
Harris sought on Wednesday to console the voters who had hoped she would become the first woman to win the White House. She, like Biden, has promised to aid Trump’s transition between now and his inauguration on Jan 20 but said she was not prepared to embrace his vision for the country.
Trump’s campaign said Biden had invited him to a meeting at the White House at an unspecified time.
Former president Trump’s victory, surprisingly decisive after opinion polls that had showed a neck-and-neck contest ahead of Tuesday’s election, underscored how disenchanted Americans had become with the economy — in particular the effect of inflation on their standard of living — border security and the direction of the country and its culture.
Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel the victory. Harris’ campaign had sought to press the message that Trump was unfit to serve again as president, as a convicted felon and one whose false claims of voting fraud after his 2020 election defeat spurred a mob to storm the US Capitol.
This time, Trump prevailed in five of the seven battleground states to push him past the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and was leading in the remaining two, Arizona and Nevada, where votes were still being tallied.
He was also on track to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since George W Bush two decades ago. (Story continues below)
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers her concession speech at Howard University in Washington, DC on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters)
'I do not concede the fight’
Harris, meanwhile, vowed to keep fighting for the ideals that powered her presidential campaign in a concession speech that acknowledged Trump’s win while warning of potential dark times to come.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign,” she told supporters, many of them in tears, at her alma mater Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, late Wednesday afternoon.
Harris, her voice at times wavering, pledged to continue fighting for women’s rights and against gun violence and to “fight for the dignity that all people deserve”.
She said she had called Trump, congratulated him on his triumph and promised to engage in a peaceful transfer of power.
“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say — hear me when I say: The light of America’s promise will always burn bright,” she said.
“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honour it,” Harris said, in a nod at Trump’s efforts, before he won, to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the election.
Harris encouraged her supporters, especially young people, not to give up even in their disappointment and said: “Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win.”
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But here’s the thing: America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars … the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service,” she said. (Story continues below)
A supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris reacts as she delivers a concession speech at Howard University in Washington, DC on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters)
Senate control
Republicans have also wrested control of the US Senate from the Democrats, ensuring Trump will control at least one chamber of Congress next year. It is not clear if they will retain their majority in the US House of Representatives, with dozens of races not yet called.
In the days and weeks ahead, Trump and his transition team will select personnel to serve under his leadership, his campaign said on Wednesday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a prominent Trump donor, has been promised a role in his administration, as has former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson are seen as possible new entrants to his administration, while former Trump officials Robert O’Brien and Mike Pompeo could return to office.
On trade, Trump is expected to revive policies he favoured during his first term, notably tariffs that he has called the “most beautiful word”. That could set him on a collision course with China, which has the world’s second largest economy, sow discord with allies and roil global industries from automakers to chipmakers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Trump a congratulatory message and said he hopes the two powers will coexist peacefully and achieve win-win cooperation, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was among world leaders congratulating Trump. But Trump has been critical of Biden’s assistance for Ukraine in its war with Russia. He has said he could end the war in 24 hours but has not offered a detailed plan.
The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before Biden leaves office in January, sources said on Wednesday, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before Trump takes over.