Trump supporters erupt in celebration after Fox News calls the 2024 race
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to address supporters with his wife, Melania, and his son Barron, during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024.
Donald Trump supporters who were gathered at a watch party in Florida erupted in celebration early Wednesday (November 6) after Fox News projected that the Republican has won the US presidency, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris and capping a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House.
In West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was expected to speak to his supporters at a convention center, the crowd cheered and chanted, "USA! USA! USA!" when Fox News declared him the winner.
Trump has already won the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia and holds leads in several others, according to Edison Research.
Other media outlets have yet to call the race. However, he appeared on the verge of winning after capturing the battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and holding leads in the other four, according to Edison Research.
Harris did not speak to her supporters, who had gathered at her alma mater Howard University. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, briefly addressed the crowd after midnight, saying Harris would speak publicly on Wednesday.
"We still have votes to count," he said.
The former president was showing strength across broad swaths of the country, improving on his 2020 performance everywhere from rural areas to urban centers.
Republicans won a U.S. Senate majority after flipping Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Neither party appeared to have an edge in the fight for control of the House of Representatives where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.
Trump went into Election Day with a 50-50 chance of reclaiming the White House, a remarkable turnaround from Jan. 6, 2021, when many pundits pronounced his political career to be over. That day, a mob of his supporters stormed Congress in a violent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump picked up more support from Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and among lower-income households that have keenly felt the sting of price rises since the last presidential election in 2020, according to exit polls from Edison.
Trump won 45 percent of Hispanic voters nationwide, trailing Harris with 53 percent but up 13 percentage points from 2020.
About 31 percent of voters said the economy was their top issue, and they voted for Trump by a 79 percent-to-20 percent margin, according to exit polls. Some 45 percent of voters across the country said their family's financial situation was worse off today than four years ago, and they favored Trump 80 percent to 17 percent.
Global investors were increasingly pricing in a Trump win late on Tuesday. US stock futures and the dollar pushed higher, while Treasury yields climbed and bitcoin rose - all flagged by analysts and investors as trades that favor a Trump victory.
At Howard University, where a large watch party was being held for Harris, supporters were leaving in droves, anticipating that the vice president would not address the crowd on Tuesday night.
Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Harris campaign, briefly addressed the crowd and said Harris would not speak.
"We still have votes to count," he said.
"We still have states that haven't been called yet."
