Joe Biden has won the US presidency over Donald Trump, TV networks projected Saturday — a victory sealed after the Democrat claimed several key battleground states won by the Republican incumbent in 2016. CNN, NBC News and CBS News called the race in his favor, after projecting he had won the decisive state of Pennsylvania.
Mr Biden, 78, won the keen-fought election by scoring 273 electoral college votes against incumbent President Donald Trump’s 214.
An hour earlier, Mr Trump had tweeted “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”
Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s running mate, made history as the first woman to be elected U.S. vice president.
The result of the election was announced Saturday after several tense days of vote-counting in many battlegrounds. Before the election day on Tuesday, about 100 million votes had been cast.
Mr Biden got the victory in his third attempt at the presidency.
In a tweet after the result was announced, Mr Biden wrote: “America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.
The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not.
I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”
On the fourth day of vote counting, Joe Biden had a 253 to 214 lead in the state by state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to Edison Research. Securing Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes would put Biden over the 270 he needs to win the presidency after a political career stretching back nearly five decades.
Joe Biden would also win if he prevails in two of the three other key states where he was narrowly ahead on Friday: Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Like Pennsylvania, all three were still processing ballots on Friday.
Nationwide, Joe Biden led Trump by 4.1 million votes out of a record 147 million cast.
Mrs Harris, a senator, tweeted: “This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
Barack Obama also twitted to congratulate Joe Biden:
