Press. voanews.com.
Democrat
Hillary Clinton conceded the U.S. presidential election Wednesday to Republican
Donald Trump, saying she hopes he "will be a successful president for all
Americans."
But
Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state who was looking to become the
country's first female president, acknowledged the depth of her disappointment
in losing. She told cheering supporters in New York, "This is painful and
it will be for a long time."
She said
the country was "more deeply divided than we thought," but she said
the losing Democrats "owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
Clinton urged her supporters to "please never stop believing that fighting
for what's right is worth it."
"We
have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still
believe in America—and I always will." —Hillary
— Hillary
Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016
Obama
reacts to election results
U.S.
President Barack Obama campaigned hard for Clinton's election, but at the White
House he said of Trump, "We are now all rooting for his success in uniting
and leading the country."
Obama
said that despite the rancor of the long campaign and deep political divide in
the U.S., "We are all Americans first." He invited Trump to the White
House on Thursday to discuss his transition to power on January 20.
Obama
congratulated Trump over the phone early Wednesday.
Hours
after his election triumph, Trump vowed to never forget the working class
Americans who launched him to the biggest upset win in American political
history.
"The
forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again," the Republican
Trump said on his Twitter account hours after winning the presidency over
Clinton. " We will all come together as never before."
Such a
beautiful and important evening! The forgotten man and woman will never be
forgotten again. We will all come together as never before
— Donald
J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2016
When he
takes office January 20, Trump, a blunt-spoken billionaire real estate mogul,
will become the first U.S. commander in chief who has never before been elected
to public office, served in the military or in a high-level government
position. At 70, he also will be the oldest U.S. president as he takes over the
White House for a four-year term.
He was
widely underestimated and even mocked by the political and media class
throughout his campaign, but he pulled off a stunning and decisive win over
Clinton, who was looking to become the country's first female president. She
called Trump to congratulate him in the early hours of Wednesday after the
outcome became apparent and planned to talk about it later.
"I
pledge to every citizen of our land to be a president for all Americans,"
said an exuberant Trump, surrounded by his family and top aides at a victory
party in New York.
It was an
improbable victory for Trump, who right up to Election Day narrowly trailed
Clinton in pre-election surveys, most of which proved to be massively wrong in
predicting a Clinton win.
Trump's
campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told television interviewers Wednesday that
Clinton had more campaign money, but that his campaign "outworked them,
and frankly, we outsmarted them and outclassed them in some cases."
Trump's
victory brought to an end one of the most contentious and divisive presidential
campaigns ever. At rally after rally, both Clinton and Trump routinely derided
each other as unfit to become the country's leader.
Trump
captured at least 279 electoral votes compared to just 228 for Clinton,
according to figures early Wednesday, amassing more than the 270 majority in
the 538-vote Electoral College, where U.S. presidential elections are decided
based on the election results in each of the 50 states and the national
capital, Washington. Results in a few states were still unclear but won't
change the outcome.
It would
be just the fourth time in U.S. history that the presidential winner has lost
the national vote, but the second time in 16 years it has occurred, with a
Republican winning both times.
At Trump
headquarters the scene was jubilant, though remnants of a divisive campaign
were still evident. Even as it became clear that Trump would win, his
supporters repeatedly broke out in chants of "lock her up," referring
to the Democratic nominee's controversial handling of national security
material on her email accounts while she was the country's top diplomat during
Obama's first term in the White House.
Trump had
vowed during the campaign to name a special prosecutor to further investigate
Clinton, but Trump campaign manager Conway said Wednesday, "We have not
discussed that at all."
Stock
exchanges in Asia and Europe fell on news of the unexpected Trump victory, but
recovered somewhat from their lowest points as U.S. vote counts through Tuesday
evening showed the increasing likelihood that he would win.
Trump had
for weeks shrugged off the significance of opinion polls, saying they were
products of a system that was "rigged" against him and insisting that
the size and passion of his rallies were a better indicator of public
sentiment.
According
to exit polls, Trump benefited from a larger than expected turnout among his
base of white rural voters, men and those without a college degree. Many of them
feel left behind in a changing, global economy and were attracted to Trump's
anti-trade, anti-immigration stances, such as his vow to build a wall along the
U.S. southern border with Mexico and attempt to make Mexico City pay for it to
thwart more illegal immigration into the U.S.
In the
end, that was enough to offset Trump's lack of support among minorities, women
and more educated voters who favored Clinton. Exit polls showed that nearly 9
in 10 African Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Clinton.
Trump
will take office with a Congress fully under control by Republicans, after the
party on Tuesday not only protected its majority in the Senate, but also left
it in control of the House. That means Republicans will be able to fill
vacancies at the Supreme Court, likely resulting in a shift to the right that
could last a generation.
But
still, the Republican Party faces massive challenges, having been largely
divided over Trump's candidacy. Over the course of his campaign, Trump has
lashed out at mainstream Republicans, and has rejected many aspects of
traditional conservatism.
"We're
in unchartered waters now in terms of what comes next," says Republican
political strategist Ron Bonjean. "This is an unprecedented victory by an
outsider who took control of the Republican Party and shook the establishment
to its core and is now coming to Washington with a wrecking ball."
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