At 2:49 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump walked onto the stage at Trump HQ in New York City as President-elect. The Republican Party also won both the House and the Senate last night and will likely choose a conservative Supreme Court Justice.
“I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me,” said President-elect Trump. “For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there was a few people, I’m reaching out to you for guidance and help to unify our great country.”
Republican candidate Donald Trump has surprised pollsters and pundits alike to become the next president of the United States. After turning over key swing states such as Florida, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio as well as turning over traditionally blue states such as Pennsylvania, Trump has beaten the democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by a wide margin.
President-elect Trump has paved a groundbreaking campaign throughout the past year and a half after he first announced his candidacy on Trump Tower in June 2016 and, ultimately, defeating 16 other candidates in the Republican Primary. For the first time in American history, a man who has never held office would become the 45th President of the United States.
Late into the election night Hillary Clinton called Trump to congratulate him on his success but chose not to make a concession speech that night.
During his speech, Trump thanked his family and campaign staff, as well as several prominent political figures such as Senator Christie, Republican candidate Ben Carson and Governor Mike Hukabee. After defying seemingly every aspect that would otherwise end the career of any politician, Trump’s win cemented the fact that Americans did not want another politician.
The day after the election Hillary Clinton gave her concession speech.
“I know how disappointed you feel because I feel it too, and so do tens millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this. This is painful and it will be for a long time,” Secretary Clinton said. “I know we still have not shattered that glass ceiling but someday someone will.”
Not only surprising many political pundits, Trump’s success surprised data and polling that gave Trump a very small chance to win the election. Some forecast had him lower than 25 percent chance of winning. Polls right up until the election had Trump’s chances dismally low on sites like RealClearPolitics and 270towin, FiveThirtyEight projected Trump’s chances to be higher but was still off. One poll, the LA Times/USC Tracking poll, was one of the few that consistently had Trump higher than the rest since Oct. 25, but the poll was based on a two-way presidential race and did not include third parties.
Follow Christian Vasquez on Twitter @chrismvasq
