US Election 2020 Photograph:( WION Web Team )
This presidential election is going down the history of American as the most chaotic. And its counting night is perhaps the most dramatic. It was dictated by uncertainty, highs and lows
Two candidates, one declaring victory. The second, just short of it. Voting officials scrambled to count votes. News channels had all hands on deck. Analysts converted their years of experience into predictions. And protesters rallied on the streets.
This presidential election is going down the history of American as the most chaotic. And its counting night is perhaps the most dramatic. It was dictated by uncertainty, highs and lows.
Trends started trickling in around 7 pm Eastern Time. Kentucky was called for President Donald Trump while Joe Biden bagged Vermont. Half an hour later, Trump bagged West Virginia. Biden won Virginia.
8 pm was Trump's golden hour. He secured 42 electoral college seats. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tenessee, Oklahoma turned Red. But the happiness was shortlived.
Soon, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island turned blue.
Then the tide turned, Donald Trump won Arkansas. Indiana followed next. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska turned red.
Biden picked New York and New Mexico.
15 past midnight, Biden made history. He won the first swing state, Minnesota. 5 minutes later Trump secured second swing state of Ohio.
The tally at 12:20 am ET was Biden 233 and Trump 145. At 12:47 am, Joe Biden spoke to his supporters from Delaware.
"Good evening, your patience is commendable. We knew this was gonna go long. But who knew it was going to go into maybe tomorrow morning? maybe even longer? But, look, we feel good about where we are, we really do.. I'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election," he said.
Two minutes into Biden's speech, Trump claimed that Democrats were trying to steal the election. Twitter flagged the tweet.
We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020
He amplified the charge of theft 2 hours later at White House East Room.
"And we were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything, and all of a sudden it was just called off (...) Millions and millions of people voted for us today. And. A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people, and we won't stand for," he said.
By then, there was already a buzz that Trump was furious. His favourite news channel, Fox News had called Arizona in favour of Biden. But that did not keep the president from declaring victory.
"And I mean, this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I'm concerned, we already have won it. So, I just want to thank you, thank all of our support, I want to thank all of the people that worked with us," said Trump.
He also sounded bugle for the legal battle. There had been a fraud he said.
"...So we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop." he said.
Biden's campaign manager shot back. Calling Trump's statement "Outrageous, Unprecedented and Incorrect"
As of 7:30 am Eastern Time, the electoral college tally looked something like this
Biden: 238
Trump: 213
And as the counting night ended, America looked divided.