Trump trips Kamala Harris as he storms back to power

To the huge disappointment of Indian Americans, Democrat Kamala Harris tripped in her historic bid for the White House as former President Donald Trump staged a staggering political comeback with a defiant campaign.

It was supposed to be an exceptionally close contest, a toss-up, a dead heat, but Vice President Harris, daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, both immigrants, found herself stuck at 224 electoral votes as her Republican rival took an early lead and cruised towards the 270 victory mark.

Taking a victory lap early Wednesday after multiple outlets projected he would win the White House, Trump declared the country had delivered him and Republicans an “unprecedented mandate.”

READ: Suhas Subramanyam wins Congressional race from Virginia (November 6, 2024)

“This is a moment like nobody’s ever seen before. Frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There’s never been anything like this in this country,” Trump told supporters at a watch party near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“And now, it’s going to reach a new level of importance because we’re going to help our country heal,” Trump continued. “We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders; we’re going to fix everything about our country. We made history for a reason tonight.”

“We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,” Trump said. “Every single day I will be fighting for you and with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America,” he said.

Trump won the key states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, with a combined 29 electoral votes to clinch the 270 necessary to win the presidency, as AP called the race. As of 5:34am ET Wednesday, Trump had 277 electoral votes total.

A New York Times projection showed Trump was also on track to narrowly win the popular vote, something he did not do in 2016 when he first won the White House and something a Republican candidate has only done once since 1992

Making the Trump victory sweeter was the Republican Party flipping control of the Senate by winning seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. Additional wins could create a much larger Senate majority. Control of the House of Representatives remained up for grabs early Wednesday.

Exit polls showed Trump making huge gains with Latino voters, bolstering his margins in rural areas and running nearly even with Harris among young men.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to congratulate “my friend” Trump on his “remarkable election victory.” With a picture of the two in a bear hug, Modi wrote he looked forward to renewing their collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.

“Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi posted on X.

Politico attributed Harris’ defeat largely to her failure to sufficiently bury President Joe “Biden’s ghost, severely hamstringing her ability to sell voters on the idea that hers was the turn-the-page candidacy.”

The momentum advisers insisted she’d built failed to materialize, Politico said, “simply, because Harris refused to make a clean break from the last four years when voters indicated that’s what they wanted.

“Worse, she hesitated to draw any daylight between herself and her boss on Biden’s biggest vulnerability — his stewardship over the economy — nor identify any specific way her presidency would be different from his tenure beyond naming a Republican to her Cabinet.”

“We ran the best campaign we could, considering Joe Biden was president,” one Harris aide told the Politico. “Joe Biden is the singular reason Kamala Harris and Democrats lost tonight.”

Another Harris aide told the political news site it was clear Biden should have made a graceful exit much sooner, allowing Democrats to hold a primary they believed Harris would have won.