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Fox News
Trump wins
presidency, defeats Clinton in historic election upset
Donald Trump, defying the pundits and polls to the end, defeated
Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election and claimed an
establishment-stunning victory that exposes the depth of voter
dissatisfaction – and signals immense changes ahead for American policy
at home and abroad.
Seventeen months after the billionaire tycoon’s Trump Tower entrance
into the race, the first-time candidate once dismissed by the political
elite will become the 45th president, Fox News projects.
Speaking to cheering supporters early Wednesday morning at his victory
party in New York City, the Republican candidate and now
president-elect said Clinton called to congratulate him, and Fox News
confirms she has conceded. Despite their hard-fought campaign, Trump
praised Clinton for her service and said “it is time for us to come
together as one united people.”
“I will be president for all Americans,” Trump vowed, after a brief
introduction by running mate Mike Pence.
Sounding a call to “reclaim our country’s destiny,” Trump declared:
“The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no
longer. … America will no longer settle for anything less than the
best.”
Trump will be the oldest president in U.S. history, entering the Oval
Office at age 70. With her defeat, Clinton falls short in her second
bid to become the first female president of the United States.
Though Clinton called Trump, her campaign initially did not concede
defeat. Earlier, her campaign chairman John Podesta addressed
supporters nearby in New York and said several states were “too close
to call.”
Clinton herself did not appear at the rally. Podesta had urged
supporters to “head home” and said they would not have “anything more
to say tonight.”
Amid Trump’s victory, Republicans also were projected to hold onto
their majority in the House and Senate, improving Trump’s chances of
advancing his agenda in office.
A surge of support in key battlegrounds – and especially surprise
victories in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – helped propel
Trump to victory. The GOP nominee built a commanding lead early on with
wins in heavily contested North Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Iowa.
Clinton won her share of battlegrounds, including Virginia and Nevada
and Colorado, but could not make up for Trump’s strong performance in
other states thought to favor the Democrat.
The billionaire businessman’s victory marked a remarkable upset and
turnaround, after he had been complaining amid a rough patch just weeks
ago the vote could be “rigged” against him.
Clinton was still thought to have the clear advantage in the electoral
map going into Tuesday’s vote, yet the polls had been tightening in the
race’s closing days.
His victory could demonstrate just how much the dynamics were shifting
in his favor – and perhaps how his true support was elusive all along
to pollsters and others gauging the race.
Without question, his bid was helped over the last two weeks by a burst
of setbacks for his opponent.
Eleven days before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced the
bureau was revisiting the investigation into Clinton’s personal email
server use while secretary of state, after discovering new messages on
the laptop of disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband
of a top Clinton aide. He closed the case again on Sunday, but the
political damage may have been done. And the WikiLeaks release of
emails hacked from Podesta’s account became a constant distraction for
the campaign, as the messages revealed infighting, internal concerns
about the Clinton family’s foundation and even evidence that the
now-head of the Democratic National Committee leaked town hall
questions to Clinton during the primaries.
This at times overshadowed the numerous allegations of sexual
harassment and assault against Trump that came out in October (which he
denies), following leaked footage from over a decade ago showing Trump
making crude comments about women.
Trump’s victory marks the second time Clinton was thwarted in her bid
to become the first female U.S. president, having been defeated by
President Obama in their 2008 primary race.
But Trump has been able to defy expectations from the start. He
defeated a deep field of 16 competitors during the Republican primaries
– stitching together a motivated coalition of voters invigorated by his
outsider, populist message; throwing his rivals off their talking
points during a raucous marathon of debates; and commanding media
attention throughout with his unpredictable, learn-as-he-goes campaign
style.
He also defied party orthodoxy, railing against free-trade deals like
NAFTA and the Trans Pacific Partnership and staking out a
sometimes-confusing set of positions on foreign policy that may yet
evolve. Democrats have criticized him heavily for statements expressing
admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin and a desire to rebuild ties
with Moscow.
Trump was aided by the infrastructure of the GOP, but his campaign
never came close to the juggernaut operation mounted by Clinton. While
she entered the final stretch of the race with an army of high-powered
surrogates, Trump’s campaign was driven mainly by him, an inner circle
of family members and a rotating set of top campaign advisers.
Surrogates like retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn and former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani advocated aggressively for the Republican nominee, but he
remained at odds with many influential elected Republicans who in some
cases – as with House Speaker Paul Ryan – endorsed him, but only
reluctantly. His stances on trade as well as his hardline immigration
proposals – including variations on a plan to suspend Muslim
immigration from certain countries – also made party brass
uncomfortable.
Read this with video and links at Fox News
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