“We must accept the results of this election.” The words of Kamala Harris, Wednesday November 6, after her defeat against Donald Trump which left part of America stunned by the victory of the former president. The disappointed candidate in the US presidential election pledged to “help” the new president-elect, for the transfer of power after the clear victory of the Republican in the race for the White House.
For the vice-president, Wednesday – which caused a shock wave in the United States and across the world – was devoted to digesting this scathing defeat, remaining locked up for most of the day at home. Naval Observatory, Washington. It was in this vice-presidential residence that she prepared the speech she gave that same evening at Howard University, where she was a student. She told her sometimes tearful supporters: “I recognize my defeat, but I do not give up the battle.”
Key moment: Kamala Harris also had her opponent on the phone to acknowledge her defeat. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung says they agreed to “need to unify the country”. Donald Trump's campaign teams also thanked Kamala Harris “for his determination, professionalism and perseverance throughout the campaign.”
Finally, the still vice-president of the United States spoke to Joe Biden: the latter greets “integrity, courage and temperament” why “incredible partner”. The American president is now expected by voters for a declaration on Thursday, with this question which torments part of the Nation: how to reconcile two Americas that are separated by everything?
If the Republican's return to the White House plunges millions of Americans, particularly in rural areas, into euphoria, many others are stunned, distressed by his increasingly harsh rhetoric. In his victory speech, the billionaire, who will be sworn in on January 20, launched a call for “unit“, urging Americans to put “the divisions of the last four years” behind them.
Donald Trump received congratulations from world leaders as well as outgoing President Joe Biden, who invited the billionaire to the White House. The 81-year-old Democratic leader will address the nation on Thursday to discuss the election results.
Donald Trump also spent the day on the phone responding to dozens of congratulatory messages, sometimes without even formalizing his victory, and, above all, to make appointments. Joe Biden called him to invite him to the White House to prepare for the transition.
If the republican “looks forward to this meeting, which should take place soon, and greatly appreciated the call“, his campaign team said, for Joe Biden, the sequence may be difficult to swallow: his inauguration had been”zapped” by Donald Trump, four years ago, who had not then recognized his defeat.
Among the other calls from many foreign leaders to the president-elect: from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about the Iranian threat, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “advance their relationship” or even Emmanuel Macron to recall the French will “to work for the return of peace”. An eagerness which betrays the excitement of many capitals, where the memory of the repeated crises of his first mandate remains vivid. With this question: what will a Trump 2.0 presidency look like? The question fascinates and obsesses, in the United States and abroad.
