by Dennis Dalman
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, it was already obvious former President Donald Trump had scored a major historic victory, winning the presidency for a second time by defeating challenger Kamala Harris.
Trump will take his oath of office Jan. 20 at the nation’s Capitol.
In Minnesota, Harris did, however, win the state with 51.2 percent of the total vote, along with her vice-presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The election was historic because it’s the first time in U.S. history a former president won re-election four years after being defeated in his bid for a second term. In 2016, Trump won over candidate Hillary Clinton. In 2020, he lost to Joe Biden, and Nov. 5 was the day of his comeback victory.
Another historic aspect is Trump is the only president who had been impeached twice, then went on to win another election. He was found not guilty in the U.S. Senate of impeachment charges.
Some not-so-good historic facts are Trump is the first convicted felon to win the U.S. Presidency. He was found guilty earlier this year in a jury trial in New York City of covering up hush payments made to a pornographic film actress, though he has not been sentenced in that case at this point. He was also found civilly liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a lawsuit brought by a woman, E. Jean Carroll. Trump has been indicted four times for alleged crimes, including charges he tried to overthrow results of the 2020 election. Trump has claimed for years that those charges were all politically motivated.
Trump won in all seven of the hotly contested battleground states. By sunrise Wednesday, all votes had not been counted, but it was clear he’d won the popular vote and the vital electoral-college vote – well in excess of the 270 needed to win.
It was also apparent early on Nov. 5 election night that Republicans regained control of the U.S. Senate. The race for the U.S. House is very close with many more votes to be counted as of Wednesday. Republicans have held a very slim minority in the House.
On election night, Trump spoke to a big crowd at the Palm Beach, Fla. Convention Center, telling his supporters “We overcame obstacles nobody thought possible . . . America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”
There will be Newsleaders online updates to this story, plus other election results, in the coming days.
