Press. voanews.com
Donald
Trump will be the next president of the United States. The billionaire
businessman, who was widely underestimated and even mocked by the political and
media class throughout his campaign, pulled off a stunning and decisive win
Tuesday over his rival, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“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 City early Wednesday.
It is an
improbable victory for a candidate who has never held elected office and who
ran one of the most unorthodox campaigns in U.S. history. It also brings to an
end one of the most contentious and divisive presidential campaigns in recent
memory.
Trump, a
Republican, captured at least 288 electoral votes compared with 215 for the
Democrat Clinton, according to figures early Wednesday. Despite his strong
electoral vote tally, Trump appeared to be headed for a narrow loss in the
popular vote. It would be just the fourth time in U.S. history that the
presidential winner has lost the popular vote.
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.
“There
was tremendous excitement among Trump supporters to begin with, and it grew and
grew as results started coming in,” says Mary Alice Salinas, who was at the
Trump victory party. “Many Trump supporters say they aren’t surprised at the
win — they knew the polls were better for Trump than many had expected.”
Investors
reacted less positively, with global markets and U.S. stock futures sent into
turmoil as it became clear Trump would win.
Trump’s
victory amounts to a massive failure for opinion polls, which showed Clinton
with a seemingly safe 3-4 point lead in the final days of the campaign. Many
respected pollsters had put her odds of winning at more than 90 percent.
“Clearly
they blew it, and they blew it quite spectacularly,” said Irfan Nooruddin,
professor of politics at Georgetown University. “The pollsters clearly have a
lot of homework to do.”
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, many of whom feel left behind in a changing economy
and were attracted to Trump’s anti-trade, anti-immigration stands.
In the
end, that was enough to offset Trump’s lack of support among minorities. Exit
polls show that nearly 9 in 10 African Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics
voted for Clinton.
FILE -
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is pictured after winning the Arizona Republican
primary in Phoenix. On Tuesday, McCain won his sixth term at age 80, in what
possibly was his final campaign. McCain is one of the Republicans who Donald
Trump has clashed with.
Trump
will take office with a Congress fully under Republican control, after the
party Tuesday not only protected its majority in the Senate, but solidified its
control of the House. That means Republicans will be able to fill vacancies on
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.”