Fox News remained the only media immediately to give the final victory to the former president, but the signals favorable to the 78-year-old tribune have continued to accumulate in recent hours, very quickly.
He is scheduled to speak from West Palm Beach, Florida, where his election night is being held. The Republican candidate for the White House was declared the winner in Georgia, North Carolina and especially in Pennsylvania, the most crucial of the seven decisive states, against his Democratic rival, according to American media projections.
For the moment, Donald Trump is in the lead with 267 voters, compared to 224 for Kamala Harris. He needs 270 to win. But preliminary trends show him well on his way to winning others, even if the count is still in progress. Another unknown: will he win the majority of votes nationally, something a Republican candidate has never done in twenty years?
Supporters of Kamala Harris, in Washington, November 5, 2024 – CHARLY TRIBALLEAU – Washington (AFP)
Anxious. The atmosphere continued to darken during the evening at the historically black Howard University in Washington, where supporters of Kamala Harris had gathered. The latter declined to speak immediately, but must speak later, according to an advisor.
From being festive, the atmosphere has become very tense, noted an AFP journalist. Charlyn Anderson, a voter leaving the scene, confided: “I'm scared, I'm anxious now. I can barely move my legs.” In the other States which have already delivered their final results, no surprises.
According to the media, the two candidates won a series of states that were promised to them: Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana for the former Republican president. . New York, Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Colorado and the capital Washington for the Democratic vice president. Kamala Harris, hoped to become the first woman elected president, facing an opponent convicted of criminal charges, targeted by multiple prosecutions, and who never admitted his defeat in 2020.
Whole world. The whole world awaited the outcome of the duel, at the end of an unprecedented campaign marked by the resounding entry into the running of Kamala Harris in July after the withdrawal of President Joe Biden, and by two assassination attempts targeting Donald Trump. Behind these two candidates were two apparently irreconcilable Americas, each convinced that the other camp would lead the country to disaster.
The 60-year-old vice-president painted her rival as a potential “fascist” dictator and a danger to women’s rights. Donald Trump described his opponent as a weak and “stupid” leader, lax on illegal immigration and crime. Across the country, the tension surrounding the vote is visible: in some polling stations transformed into fortresses, in the high barricades surrounding the White House. Republicans have regained control of the US Senate from Democrats. Control of the House of Representatives is not yet known.
The very polarizing issue of abortion is also the subject of several referendums. In one of the most followed, in Florida, a proposal aimed at reintroducing the possibility of performing an abortion up to approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy, instead of the current six, did not garner enough votes to win.
Aurélia END, Camille CAMDESSUS, Marion THIBAUT with Gérard MARTINEZ in Palm Beach
© Agence France-Presse
