WASHINGTON (The Straits Times/ ANN) - The real estate tycoon, who has never held public office, won the 270 votes needed to win the White House, clinching key swing states including Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
In one of the most stunning political upsets in American history, Republican Donald Trump pulled off a huge electoral victory over his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States.
The real estate tycoon, who has never held public office, won the 270 votes needed to win the White House, clinching key swing states including Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
At age 70, he will also be the oldest American president.
Clinton called Trump to concede the election, according to local news networks. This came shortly after her campaign manager John Podesta said the race in some states were still too close to call and she will not concede till every single vote is counted.
The win by Trump was a repudiation of months and months of polls and projections, evoking the shocking outcome of Brexit - Britain's referendum on whether to stay in the European Union. Trump started the night as a heavy underdog but made stunning gains as vote counting progressed.
The vaunted Clinton advantage among minorities and women looks to have been trumped by the Republican's appeal among white working-class voters.
Trump supporters at the Hilton hotel in midtown were constantly cheering as the results started to come in, while Clinton supporters in the Javits Convention Centre were decidedly more nervous.
Besides the big key states, Trump also won states including Idaho, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Arkansas.
Clinton won in states including New York, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Vermont and Delaware.
A packed crowd in the lobby of Trump’s new hotel in Washington D.C. chanted “lock her up, lock her up”, referring to Clinton who was investigated by FBI for using her private e-mail in her work while she was secretary of state.
During election day on Tuesday, long lines were seen at many polling stations across America.
There were no signs of the voter intimidation or cyber attacks that many had feared, although some stations in Utah and North Carolina had to resort to paper ballots due to technical glitches.
Some voters in the more populated precincts across the country reportedly had to wait for up to three hours to cast their ballots.
Speaking after casting her vote in her hometown of Chappaqua, New York, Clinton said voting was the "most humbling feeling" because of what was at stake in the election.
Trump, after casting his vote in Manhattan, said that he was buoyed by the "tremendous enthusiasm" he has seen.
Polling heading into election day had given Clinton an edge although pollsters warned that Trump could not be written off.
Statistician Nate Silver, who founded the polling forecast website fivethirtyeight.com, noted, for instance, that this year's forecast featured a higher than average level of uncertainty due to the high number of undecided voters.
He noted that it would not take a drastic polling error to wipe out the approximately three percentage point lead that Clinton holds in the polls.
"In three of the last five presidential elections, there was a polling error the size of which would approximately wipe out Clinton's popular vote lead - or alternatively, if the error were in her favour, turn a solid victory into a near-landslide margin of 6 to 8 percentage points," he wrote.
Much will be determined by who did a better job of getting their core supporters to the voting booth.
Source: www.straitstimes.com/
WASHINGTON (The Straits Times/ ANN) - The real estate tycoon, who has never held public office, won the 270 votes needed to win the White House, clinching key swing states including Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
In one of the most stunning political upsets in American history, Republican Donald Trump pulled off a huge electoral victory over his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States.
The real estate tycoon, who has never held public office, won the 270 votes needed to win the White House, clinching key swing states including Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
At age 70, he will also be the oldest American president.
Clinton called Trump to concede the election, according to local news networks. This came shortly after her campaign manager John Podesta said the race in some states were still too close to call and she will not concede till every single vote is counted.
The win by Trump was a repudiation of months and months of polls and projections, evoking the shocking outcome of Brexit - Britain's referendum on whether to stay in the European Union. Trump started the night as a heavy underdog but made stunning gains as vote counting progressed.
The vaunted Clinton advantage among minorities and women looks to have been trumped by the Republican's appeal among white working-class voters.
Trump supporters at the Hilton hotel in midtown were constantly cheering as the results started to come in, while Clinton supporters in the Javits Convention Centre were decidedly more nervous.
Besides the big key states, Trump also won states including Idaho, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Arkansas.
Clinton won in states including New York, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Vermont and Delaware.
A packed crowd in the lobby of Trump’s new hotel in Washington D.C. chanted “lock her up, lock her up”, referring to Clinton who was investigated by FBI for using her private e-mail in her work while she was secretary of state.
During election day on Tuesday, long lines were seen at many polling stations across America.
There were no signs of the voter intimidation or cyber attacks that many had feared, although some stations in Utah and North Carolina had to resort to paper ballots due to technical glitches.
Some voters in the more populated precincts across the country reportedly had to wait for up to three hours to cast their ballots.
Speaking after casting her vote in her hometown of Chappaqua, New York, Clinton said voting was the "most humbling feeling" because of what was at stake in the election.
Trump, after casting his vote in Manhattan, said that he was buoyed by the "tremendous enthusiasm" he has seen.
Polling heading into election day had given Clinton an edge although pollsters warned that Trump could not be written off.
Statistician Nate Silver, who founded the polling forecast website fivethirtyeight.com, noted, for instance, that this year's forecast featured a higher than average level of uncertainty due to the high number of undecided voters.
He noted that it would not take a drastic polling error to wipe out the approximately three percentage point lead that Clinton holds in the polls.
"In three of the last five presidential elections, there was a polling error the size of which would approximately wipe out Clinton's popular vote lead - or alternatively, if the error were in her favour, turn a solid victory into a near-landslide margin of 6 to 8 percentage points," he wrote.
Much will be determined by who did a better job of getting their core supporters to the voting booth.
Source: www.straitstimes.com/