ABIGAIL JACOBSON
News Editor
ALEX BUCKNAM
Asst. News Editor
The election came to a conclusion early on the morning of Nov. 6. The 2024 election verdict: Republican candidate Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States.
Back in 2016, Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States and has now been elected to return to the White House as the 47th president.
According to AP News, within the popular vote, Trump had a total of 72,833,067 votes (50.9%) while Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, had a total of 68,196,746 votes (47.6%) as of Nov. 6
As of 5:31 p.m. on Nov. 7 and the information provided by AP News, Trump received 295 electoral votes while Harris received 226 electoral votes.
Trump gave his victory speech in Florida alongside members of his family and his vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, around 2:30 a.m. eastern time. At the beginning of his speech, he began to thank the crowd of people gathered at this event.
According to AP News, during Trump’s victory speech, he stated, “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president.”
He also mentioned how “this is a movement like nobody’s ever seen before and, frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time.”
Later in his speech, Trump discussed how he will fight for every citizen and “will be fighting for you with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve.
“This will truly be the golden age of America, that’s what we have to have,” Trump said.
Towards the end of his victory speech, Trump left America with “a simple motto.”
“Promises made, promises kept. We’re going to keep our promises. Nothing will stop me from keeping my word to you, the people,” Trump said. “We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again.”
Harris didn’t speak on election night. However, the following day she called Trump to congratulate him, where she discussed “the need for a peaceful transfer of power.”
Harris went on to give a concession speech on Nov. 6 at Howard University.
At the beginning of Harris’ speech, she thanked the crowd by saying, “My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of resolve.”
She went on to say how this is not the outcome they wanted or fought for but “the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
She went on to thank her running mate, Tim Walz, and his family, her husband and their family, and Joe Biden and his wife. She also thanked her team, the volunteers, the poll workers and local election officials.
During her speech, Harris said, “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
Harris directed her speech towards America’s youth, stating, “To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. But please know it’s going to be okay.”
She mentioned how sometimes the fight takes a while to win but that this doesn’t mean that the people fighting should give up.
“The important thing is don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place,” Harris said.” You have power … and don’t you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.”
The Electoral College will meet on December 17, 2024, to cast their ballots, followed by a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2025, whereby Congress will certify the electors’ vote. Trump will then be sworn in on January 20, 2025.
Sources:
https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/#
https://apnews.com/article/election-day-trump-harris-white-house-83c8e246ab97f5b97be45cdc156af4e2
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-victory-speech-full-transcript-1981234
https://time.com/7173617/kamala-harris-concession-speech-full-transcript
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/politics/harris-concession-speech.html
https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Electoral_College_2024_Dates_508.pdf