GUWAHATI: Republican Donald Trump declared victory in the 2024 presidential race after Fox News projected him as the winner over Democrat Kamala Harris, marking a remarkable political comeback four years after his departure from the White House.
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“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” Trump told a jubilant crowd at the Palm Beach County Convention Center early Wednesday morning.
“This a magnificent victory for us which will allow us to make America Great again,” Trump said.
"This is a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this. I want to thank American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th President and your 45th President. Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and for your future. Every single day, I 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."
"Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason. That reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness and now we are going to fulfill that mission together," Trump said in his victory speech.
While other news outlets had not yet called the race, Trump appeared on the cusp of securing the win after claiming key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. He also maintained leads in several other critical states, according to Edison Research.
Harris, meanwhile, refrained from speaking to her supporters gathered at Howard University, her alma mater. Campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond addressed the crowd just after midnight, offering a hopeful message that Harris would speak publicly on Wednesday. “We still have votes to count,” he said.
Trump's performance was strong across a broad swath of the country, improving on his 2020 showing in both rural areas and urban centers.
Republicans also secured a majority in the U.S. Senate by flipping Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio. However, the battle for control of the House of Representatives remained too close to call, with Republicans holding a slim majority.
Trump's political resurgence was remarkable, given that just three years earlier, on January 6, 2021, many had predicted the end of his political career after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Exit polls indicated Trump had gained significant ground with traditionally Democratic voter groups, including Hispanic Americans and lower-income households, who have been hit hard by rising costs since the last election. He captured 45% of the Hispanic vote nationwide—still trailing Harris, who garnered 53%, but a notable 13-point increase from 2020.