Chris FrazierFormer President and Republican Nominee Donald Trump has defeated Vice President and Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris in a highly contested race Wednesday morning.
Trump ‘s win was written in his battleground success. North Carolina, a state many believed could flip blue, was the first in the battleground arena to fall to Republicans.
Georgia, the state President Joe Biden turned blue in his 2020 run, was also projected to become Republican.
Northern states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, or what political analysts call “the blue wall,” crumbled into a red wave.
Trump’s victory made history, making him the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms. The only other president to complete this feat was Grover Cleveland, who became the 22nd president in 1885 and the 24th in 1893.
He will also be the first convicted felon to serve in the White House.
At the West Palm Beach County Convention Center, Trump acknowledged that the race was over.
“We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,” Trump remarked. “It’s a political victory that our country is never seen before.”
Harris hasn’t made a public speech since the race was called.
Although Trump surpassed 270 in the Electoral College and won the popular vote, many Eagles didn’t envision a Republican White House. More than 90% of participants in a September and October Campus Echo poll planned to vote for the Democratic ticket.
The key issues the Trump campaign emphasized included immigration, crime, economy and foreign policy.
In their closing argument to the American people, the Trump campaign asked, “Are you better now than you were four years ago?”
The Harris campaign, which began after Biden dropped out in July, attempted to run as the “change candidate.” They emphasized reproductive rights, economic support for the middle class and protection of democracy.
They also discussed immigration, pointing to H.R. 815, a bill that was voted down in Congress. According to the Immigration Council, it would have been “the most sweeping immigration bill of the 21st century.”
The Harris campaign argued that the vice president supported the bill and that Trump prevented the bill from being passed because he wanted to run on the issue.
Throughout the campaign cycle, there was concern about how connected Trump’s platform was to Project 2025.
Published by the Heritage Foundation in 2023, the project would expand the executive branch’s power and enact ultra-conservative laws.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he was not connected to the proposal, but some circumstances suggest the alternative.
While he claimed to have never seen it, some individuals in his orbit, like Peter Navarro and Christopher Miller, played a role in writing it.
In an interview conducted on X, formerly known as Twitter by Elon Musk, Trump said that he planned to eliminate the Department of Education, a goal that is also enshrined in Project 2025.
Celebrities didn’t wait to respond to the election results. Late-night Host Jon Stewart was displeased by what pollsters said in the days before Election Day.
“We don’t exactly know what all the results are going to be. Our time is running out. I do want to very quickly send a quick message to all the pollsters … ‘Blow me,’” Stewart said. “You don’t know (expletive) about (expletive) and I don’t care for you.”
Franklin Leonard, founder of the Black List, tweeted another direct message on X.
“Too many of y’all appear to have forgotten how absolutely wild the Trump years were.”
The race to the White House is over. However, the status of Congress remains to be determined. The Republican Party has secured a majority in the Senate, but the House continues its tally.
As some states finalize their numbers, NCCU will host a Campus Town Hall Wednesday evening. Eagles can attend and share their experiences and concerns about the election.
