Joe Biden is embraced by his grandkids and son Hunter as networks call the election for him - but stone-faced Trump returns to White House surrounded by celebrations to furiously tweet: 'I WON THE ELECTION. BAD THINGS HAPPENED'
Joe Biden's grandchildren told him he had the won the election when it was called for by at 11.25am Saturday - then hugged him with his son Hunter.
Naomi Biden, Hunter's daughter, tweeted a picture of the moment they celebrated the end of a rollercoaster election and count, as in cities across America crowds took to the streets.
In contrast Trump finally reacted to the presidential election being called after almost six hours Saturday - unleashing an all-capitals tirade on Twitter saying: 'I WON THE ELECTION.'
As thousands partied outside the White House, he Tweeted a barrage of complaints - all without evidence - that 'bad things happened.'
Trump had learned his fate on his own golf course, and been sneaked back in to the White House by a side gate to avoid the celebrations outside about two hours before his tweet.
The election was called for Biden at 11.25 a.m. Saturday morning by television networks and the Associated Press as he passed a 30,000 lead in Pennsylvania, an agonizing four days after the polls closed.
How he reacted: Trump furiously tweeted a series of claims about the election
CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the AP and USA Today all made the call and Fox News followed suit 10 minutes later after Biden picked up more votes in Philadelphia, where officials had been working through mail-in ballots for days.
Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral college votes, finally pushed Biden over the line. Nevada was called for him shortly afterwards. Now, only Arizona, Alaska and North Carolina remain uncalled but none can alter the election outcome now.
Biden will address the nation at 8pm tonight. Within minutes of the call being made, spontaneous celebrations broke out in major cities as people cheered, danced and honked horns in the streets.
Trump was playing golf at the time. He has refused to accept the outcome, claiming Biden was trying to 'falsely pose' as the winner, vowing to keep challenging results he claims are a 'fraud' and creating the potential for weeks of chaos and constitutional crisis. He was on his Sterling, Virginia, course as he news broke and was photographed deep in conversation with his three golfing partners just afterwards.
Trump has no immediate plans to invite Biden to an Oval Office meeting, a tradition between outgoing and incoming presidents, CNN reported. Then Barack Obama hosted Trump for such a meeting on Thursday, November 10, 2016, two days after that year's presidential election.
Votes in Philadelphia pushed Biden's margin in must-win Pennsylvania to 34,558, more than 0.5%, just after 11am - putting the result in the state beyond doubt. That took him to 273 electoral votes - putting the 77-year-old on a clear path to the White House. Less than an hour later Nevada was called by networks, putting him on 279.
The states of Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina were still to be called. Biden was ahead in all but North Carolina, and if he stays that way he will have 302 electoral college votes, the same as Trump in 2016.
Kamala Harris, his running mate, becomes the first female vice president, and the first black and Asian-American vice president. She was out for a run when the call came.
Biden tweeted: 'America, I'm honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.'
Jill, when tweeting the picture of them, said: 'He will be a President for all our families.'
Jill Biden tweeted this photograph on Saturday afternoon, around two hours after the election was called for her husband. The pair were at home in Wilmington, Delaware. President-elect Biden will speak tonight at 8pm EST
President Trump, arriving back at the White House after finding out on the golf course that the election had been called for Biden
Trump arriving back at the White House on Saturday afternoon while Biden supporters flooded the area to celebrate his victory
He issued a statement saying 'democracy beats deep in the heart of America.'
'With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.
'It's time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do, if we do it together.'
But Trump's campaign issued a statement in Trump's name claiming Biden was not the winner and that it would fight on with legal efforts to challenge the votes - which so far have badly faltered.
'We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don't want the truth to be exposed,' the statement said.
'The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.'
In Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden was watching the news at home, cars could be heard honking in celebration.
Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon was spotted by reporters in the lobby of the Westin hotel, adjacent to Biden's Wilmington headquarters, in a white BIDEN t-shirt. Her mother had called to tell her CNN had called the race. 'Ecstatic - a great day for this country,' she said.
On CNN Van Jones, the commentator and former Obama aide, started crying.
The former vice president sealed victory - after capitalizing on the coronavirus and stark disapproval of the president among women and minorities - with a result that was dramatically closer than many experts had predicted, denying him what he hoped would a total rejection of Trumpism.
But on Friday night he had hailed rebuilding the 'blue wall,' winning thumping popular vote margins and said he was on his way to more than 300 Electoral College votes.
That added up to a 'mandate' he said, name-checking racial equality and climate change as where he will take action in a sign that the Democratic takeover of the White House will be unapologetic in pursuing the party's agenda.
He still faces an electoral battle to gaining total Democratic control, with two runoff races for both Georgia Senate seats on January, and if he loses it will have to deal with a Republican senate.
There is also the potential for Trump to cause chaos.
His promised legal challenges can be followed by trying to unseat the electors in the Electoral College, then challenging the certification of results on January 6.
The celebration among Biden's supporters and sudden blow to Trump's loyal base came as the U.S. was facing a dangerous uptick in the coronavirus – which had become a central issue but certainly not the only one of the campaign.
On Friday alone, there were 126,000 new coronavirus infections. It was the third successive day of record-breaking news, with more than 50,000 Americans hospitalized for the disease.
The state of the pandemic sets up challenging dynamic for the country, as the White House – which is now dealing again with an outbreak among its own staff – must grapple with the spreading coronavirus during a lame duck period.
Biden received a briefing this week on the virus, but has no authority to affect policy until January – although his allies in the Capitol can continue to push to revive a stalled relief package.
Is this the moment he learned? Donald Trump was on his Trump National golf course in Sterling, Virginia, when the call was made, with a so-far unidentified foursome
In the rough: Donald Trump now faces a steep uphill path to successfully challenge tens of thousands of vote majorities in the states won by Joe Biden in court by December 8
Trump takes a swing on his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday morning. It's unclear what time the photo was taken but the networks called the election for Biden at 11.25am
It's over: CNN calls the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
His main ally on Capitol Hill, Nancy Pelosi, was jubilant.
'Today marks the dawning of a new day of hope for America. A record-shattering 75 million Americans cast their ballots to elect Joe Biden President of the United States – a historic victory that has handed Democrats a mandate for action.
'In President-elect Joe Biden, Americans elected a leader ready on Day One to finally begin to crush the coronavirus so we can safely reopen our economy and schools.
'In President-elect Biden, the American people delivered a mandate for lower health costs, a mandate for creating bigger paychecks by rebuilding America's infrastructure, and a mandate for cleaner government that works for the public interest, not the special interests. And in President-elect Biden, they have elected a unifier who values faith, family and community, and who will work tirelessly to heal our nation.
'President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris won with a strong margin, and they will have a strong Democratic House Majority by their side. Working together, we have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress For The People.'
The decision by TV networks to call the race for Biden also provides a green light for world leaders and congressional leaders to resume outreach activities that typically go with a presidential transition.
The time between the election and the inauguration is always prolonged and awkward to a degree – but this time it has the added feature of the incumbent fighting tooth-and-nail in court.
Biden acknowledged the importance of the network call on Friday night by cancelling his plans for a big picture speech followed by fireworks that would begin his effort to unite the nation behind him and move toward the governing phase.
Instead, he held off, instead insisting only that he was likely to prevail.
Now, world leaders will be empowered to phone Biden to express their congratulations and acknowledgement of his historic, though still unofficial, win.
Some of them were already weighing in on the contested election, with Germany's foreign minister Heiki Maas issuing a blunt warning.
'America is more than a one-man show.
'Anyone who continues to pour oil on the fire in a situation like this is acting irresponsibly. Now is the time to keep a cool head until an independently determined result is available,' he warned Friday.
Traditionally, among the first heads of a government to be in contact with an incoming president would be the head of Great Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been a Trump ally.
Biden already knows multiple heads of state. In addition to serving for eight years as Barack Obama's vice president with a considerable foreign policy portfolio, he formerly chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Biden campaign will be able to dole out readouts of those calls to the media gathered in Wilmington, providing still more of an air of inevitability and getting down to business.
Biden's aides will have to take caution: Trump's first national security advisor Mike Flynn got in legal trouble after he had conversations with the Russians during the transition and later lied about it to the FBI.
The Democrat has already signaled the U.S. will be rejoining the Paris climate accord.
One of Biden's first calls will be to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has led the Democratic opposition to Trump since her party swept to power in 2018.
Pelosi got a jump on the networks Thursday when she said it was 'clear' Biden and Harris would win. But she said she had not spoken to Biden due to the votes still being counted.
She didn't mention anything further about outreach to Biden during her brief statement Saturday. 'In President-elect Joe Biden, Americans elected a leader ready on Day One to finally begin to crush the coronavirus so we can safely reopen our economy and schools,' she said.
Despite being out of office, he will have to coordinate on the party's coronavirus strategy. A key decision will be whether to take billions in aid for struggling Americans now to sustain the economy but on Trump's terms, or wait for a package they can shape more to their liking under Biden.
But with the Senate up for grabs, getting the package Democratic leaders have been dreaming of will be a challenge.
Biden will also conduct outreach with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, who still has a chance of becoming majority leader depending on what happens in two special elections in Georgia.
A key relationship he will have to maintain is with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who Biden served with for years in the Senate.
If McConnell holds the majority, everything of import that Biden wants to achieve, from coronavirus relief to health care, ambassadorships, judges, and even his own cabinet, must go through McConnell's Senate.
Party relations are already frayed there after a bruising battle to confirm Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett – a process Biden said shouldn't take place until after the election. McConnell ignored him and prevailed.
But talk of court-packing ceased after Democratic dreams of picking up multiple Senate seats in a wave disappeared.
But the nation - and politics - remain starkly divided and Trump poured fuel on that division just before the results were called.
On Saturday morning he tweeted that his supporters have been banned from observing vote counting in some of the key swing states despite shouting 'stop the count!' and that officials had been 'covering windows' to block their views and forbidding them from overseeing the process.
PHILADELPHIA: People celebrate outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center where votes had been counted
Celebration: This was the scene in New York's Alphabet City as celebrations began in blue states and cities
The fight goes on: In Lansing, Michigan, pro-Trump protesters were demonstrating outside the state capitol. They want to overturn Biden's majority by claiming - without evidence - massive fraud
He also promised a 'big' press conference in Philadelphia, where vote counting continues, where he said his lawyers would be present, then was seen leaving the White House in casual dress.
While in the car, he tweeted a link to a Breitbart story about a 'glitch' in vote counting software, then said: 'I WON THIS ELECTION BY A LOT!'
He was seen arriving at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, shortly afterwards.
Trump has not yet offered any proof of his claims. His campaign has vowed to file lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada to argue that the results cannot be trusted, and he is demanding a recount in Wisconsin.
Overnight, faith among Trump's allies seemed to dwindle and calls for him to concede the race mounted.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham prepared viewers for the likelihood that he had lost.
She said: 'For now, it's time to take our gains, learned from our defeats, and confidently expand one of the greatest political movements for the past 100 years,' she said.
She said a Trump defeat did not mean that the 'America First movement' was over, but that 'President Trump's legacy will only become more significant if he focuses on moving the country forward'.
Donald Trump Jr., who earlier in the week told his father to 'fight until the death' and urged their fans not to give up at a rally, posted a photograph of the pair on Instagram in the Oval Office, which he captioned: 'Thanks for always fighting so hard for America dad, it's an honor to be in that fight with you.'
It was a softened tone from the angry rally where he said America had turned into a 'banana republic' that had to be reclaimed.
The Wall Street Journal - which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch - published an op-ed from its editorial board urging Trump to concede.
'If Mr. Biden has 270 Electoral College votes at the end of the counting and litigation, President Trump will have a decision to make. We hope in that event he would concede gracefully,' they said.
Biden had on Wednesday issued a call for reconciliation after deep divisions and whipsaw headlines of the Trump administration.
He called to 'lower the temperature' and 'listen to one another' – even as Trump's team announced it would file multiple lawsuits in an effort to prevent counting of votes that could go against him.
Biden became the third person to knock off an incumbent this century, and the first since Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in 1992.
'Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience as well,' the former vice president said from the stage of Wilmington's Queen theater late Thursday afternoon.
'So I ask everyone to stay calm, all people to stay calm. The process is working. The count is being completed and we'll know very soon.'
He also tweeted: 'No one is going to take our democracy away from us.
'Not now, not ever. America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen. Keep the faith, folks.'
Biden fulfilled a lifelong dream of the presidency, having failed in two other efforts, only to get selected by Barack Obama to serve as his running mate for two terms in the White House.
He contemplated a run of his own in 2016, but begged off after the death of his son Beau Biden from brain cancer. He made frequent reference to his personal struggles in his campaign. His wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi died in a tragic car crash in 1972, just as Biden was set to join the U.S. Senate.
New York City erupted into celebration on Saturday after the race was called for Joe Biden
The naked cowboy sings as people celebrate at Times Square in New York after Joe Biden was declared winner of the 2020 presidential election on November 7, 2020
People celebrate in Times Square after former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was announced as the winner over Pres. Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020
WASHINGTON DC: Thousands of people celebrate after news organizations called the US 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden near the White House
The Irish Catholic Biden spoke frequently of his faith, and quoted aphorisms from his father, a car salesman, that usually began: 'Joey …'.
He's spoken regularly about his hardscrabble hometown Scranton, Pennsylvania, having been left behind amid manufacturing losses.
Although his was a middle-class upbringing, he spoke of the anxiety of having a parent lose a job, and said he wore a 'chip on his shoulder' having attended a state school, the University of Delaware, rather than the Ivy League.
Although he spent 47-years in the Senate and began his career in law, he smoothed some of the edges of his bio to stress leaving a corporate firm to be a public defender, and working at a local community swimming pool frequented by black children.
He says his sense of justice was galvanized by the civil rights movement, but took pains not to paint himself as a hero of the struggle.
He forged a unique reputation for empathy in Washington that his team crafted into a balm for the tumult of the Trump era.
There weren't celebrations everywhere. In Lansing, Michigan, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in a row over the count there
Trump supporters rally near the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, to protest former Vice President Democrat Joe Biden's victory
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally outside the State Capitol building as votes continue to be counted following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Lansing, Michigan
Trump supporters demonstrating during the election results, at right, pray with a counter protester after the presidential election was called for Joe Biden outside the State Capitol in Lansing
Before the virus hit, he was known to pose for every last selfie at the end of a campaign event. Sometimes people would confront him with tales of their own loss, and he would undoubtedly share his own struggles and offer reassurance.
Biden showed special compassion for those who, like he did as a child, suffered from a stutter, often making time to reassure them. He spoke publicly about how he overcame it and learned special techniques to mark his speeches and plan his words. The stutter occasionally reemerged during campaign events, but several Trump allies got burned when they mocked him for it.
He didn't shy from talking about the tragedies that best him, and regularly touted the bio of his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, who continues to teach community college.
But with all his talk of family woven into his wife and campaign, it was Biden's son Hunter whose own life saga threatened to intrude on the father's historic run.
Hunter already had an identity as somewhat of a ne'er-do-well, having struggled with drugs and been discharged from the Navy Reserve. Some lucrative and questionable business dealings in Ukraine while his father was vice president drew scrutiny from Trump allies, and Senate Republicans produced a report on his 'corruption.'
Late in the race, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani provided what he said was Hunter's laptop to the New York Post, and claimed sensational emails provided evidence of kickbacks showing he was part of a 'crime family.' Trump made attacks on Hunter and Joe a staple of his campaign rallies.
Biden called it a 'smear campaign' and managed to avoid addressing the substance of the charges, which allies said could be product of foreign disinformation.
Biden has made frequent references to his personal struggles in his campaign. His wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi died in a tragic car crash in 1972, just as Biden was set to join the U.S. Senate. Biden is pictured with his first wife Neilia and sons Hunter and Beau
Biden has run his campaign on family values, pictured with his wife Jill, sons Hunter and Beau and daughter Ashley
Biden contemplated a run of his own in 2016, but begged off after the death of his son Beau Biden (right) from brain cancer. With all his talk of family woven into his wife and campaign, it was Biden's son Hunter (left) whose own life saga threatened to intrude on the father's historic run
Biden and Obama are known for their close friendship and brotherhood. Biden made maintaining and expanding Obamacare through a 'public option' a substantial part of his campaign. Although he stood back from the primary, Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama made impassioned pleas for his election at the Democratic convention
With a disciplined and low-key campaign where he promised aggressive action to combat the virus, Biden delivered on Democratic dreams of turning the wealthy former reality star into a one-term president.
Although he took pains to protect the health and safety of the press by imposing social distancing at his events, he gave infrequent press conferences and often called on only a few reporters from a pre-determined list.
He capitalized on Democratic urgency to take down Trump, after a strong resistance sprang forth immediately after his defeat of Clinton, as evidenced in a large women's march around his inauguration.
Biden defied Trump's own election eve prediction of a 'blowout win' and a 'red wave' – but ended up giving his supporters heartburn and winning a narrow victory that stopped far short of blowout scenarios that public polls allowed for.
It was not that he didn't mobilize his supporters: his victory came amid record turnout, and he was on track to surpass Clinton's 2016 vote total. Trump, however, inspired countering energy and loyalty among his supporters, who turned out to packed rallies even amid the pandemic and got themselves to the polls to vote in person.
Trump had set the table for the contentious aftermath, claiming in advance that the only way he could lose was through 'massive fraud.' He laid the groundwork for a tense interregnum when declared hours after the polls closed that he had 'won,' then filed suits to stop the count in battlegrounds where he fell behind.
Key to Biden's effort was restoring the 'blue wall' that crumbled in 2016 – with an intensive focus on battleground states in the upper Midwest.
Trump claimed in each of them that he had saved manufacturing, won a trade war with China, and had the nation 'rounding the corner' on the coronavirus.
Although he traveled dramatically less than Trump, Biden repeatedly popped up in Pennsylvania, and made last-minute trips to Wisconsin and Michigan, making sure not to repeat Hillary Clinton's of virtually ignoring states that handed Trump his own victory.
Trump labeled him 'Sleepy Joe,' in a dig he repeatedly rolled out on Twitter and at campaign rallies. But it lacked the sting of the successful 'Crooked Hillary' branding and didn't up when Biden showed vigor in their debates.
Over the summer, he said he would challenge Trump to a push-up contest if the president went after his mental or physical health.
'I would say, ''Come on Donald, come on man. How many push-ups do you want to do here, pal?'' Jokingly, he said. 'You know, come on, run with me man.'
Biden labeled Trump a 'bully' and compared him to people he said he stood up to in his youth. He trudged out well-worn stories familiar to those who follow him closely, and would label attacks he found egregious 'malarkey.'
It was part of Biden's pitch and appeal during the Democratic primaries, when voters turned back a large field of younger and talented officials inside and outside of politics and ended up backing the 77-year old former senator who promised to work with Republicans and defeat Trump in his backyard.
And it was Michigan and Wisconsin that ultimately put him on track for the requisite 270 electoral votes needed to defeat Trump.
Biden made peace with his Democratic rivals, consulting Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on policy, negotiating a policy program with Sen. Bernie Sanders, and bringing in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who papered over disagreements in TV interviews when touting him.
Trump used the alliances against him, telling his own supporters Biden would be controlled by the 'radical left.'
Trump's relentless efforts to tie Biden to socialists – an attack Biden tried to refute by telling people to simply look at him and his record – nevertheless may have helped tamp down his support in key battlegrounds.
He sought to hitch himself to still-popular President Barack Obama, who elevated him after a humbling defeat in Iowa in 2008, and who joined him on the stump in the campaign's final days to lend his star power to some of Biden's signature car rallies.
Despite his advanced age, Biden sought to project an air of cool to his fans, sporting aviator shades and sharing his love for muscle cars. Trump compiled a blooper real of his occasional gaffes, but 2020 Biden appeared to overcome his reputation for making them, and many voters overlooked the slips amid the dire stakes of the pandemic and economic turmoil.
He made maintaining and expanding Obamacare through a 'public option' a substantial part of his campaign. Although he stood back from the primary, Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama made impassioned pleas for his election at the Democratic convention.
Biden benefited from an influential rump group of 'never Trumpers,' as well as hundreds of former top military officials, former elected Republicans, and even former Trump administration officials who endorsed him and blasted the current administration and called Trump unfit.
He pledged to govern not on behalf of red or blue America but for the whole country, in an obvious dig at Trump and a hat tip to Obama, who had a similar line.
Dozens of aides to prior Republican presidential nominees also lent their names to efforts to defeat Trump, and Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, campaigned with Biden in her home state of Arizona, an electoral battleground that would provide a crucial piece to his winning map.
He will be the oldest man ever to take office in January. His running mate, Kamala Harris – selected in part to demonstrate Biden's commitment to heal the 'soul of the nation' amid protests about police violence – will be the first female vice president.
Biden had pledged in advance to name a female running mate. Helping drive him to victory were demographic shifts since Trump's stunning 2016 win. Older voters were moving to Biden in preelection polls, drawn to his message of fighting the pandemic and restoring alliances and norms of the office.
He built up support among women voters and black voters, hoping to improve on Hillary Clinton's margins. Even before the campaign began, suburban women in particular had moved away from Trump after a contentious tenure featuring investigations, bitter personal attacks, and angry tweets.
A clear shortcoming in Biden's game plan was in the ability to win over Cuban-Americans and other Latinos in Miami, a factor that helped cost him the prize. But Hispanic voters provided critical support in Nevada and Arizona.
Biden widened his polling lead during a contentious first debate where Trump repeatedly interrupted him, but managed to put away doubts Trump raised with repeated claims he had 'lost it.' The Commission on Presidential Debates changed the rules of the debate to include muting in order to prevent cross-talk and interruptions that plagued the first
Helping boost his popular vote totals over Hillary Clinton's 3 million vote margin was a record turnout stretched out over a period of weeks. The count was expected to hit 75 million, the most votes in a U.S. election, with record turnout percentage going back more than 100 years.
But while he could claim it for the record books and even cite it as a political tool, it had no effect on the electoral college which delivered a nail-biter.
The race that got Biden to victory was remarkably stable – he never trailed over the course of the year in opinion polls. He was able to remain popular, while Trump never overcame his own underwater approval ratings – after running three and a half years of slash and burn politics, where he regularly called his rivals 'corrupt' and 'criminals,' and sometimes vowed to prosecute them.
Although he didn't huddle in his basement to the extent of Trump's caricature, he stayed close to home and did satellite interviews amid the pandemic.
Some of the most intense drama came as the votes came in, with Trump's ability to turn out his own supporters providing a rebuke to political journalists. Trump vowed to restore the economy and claimed the nation was 'rounding the corner' on the coronavirus.
Biden widened his polling lead during a contentious first debate where Trump repeatedly interrupted him, but managed to put away doubts Trump raised with repeated claims he had 'lost it.'
Their planned second debate never happened after Trump got the coronavirus and a commission tried to switch it to a video format.
After Trump balked, Biden scheduled a town hall-style interview instead. Trump tried to level new corruption attacks on Biden in the third debate after the New York Post reported on son Hunter Biden's business efforts in China, with information provided by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
But it never stuck as a top issue, and although Trump brought up Hunter's 'laptop from hell' at his closing campaign rallies, it didn't appear to move the needle in public polls.
Trump's repeated claims that Biden and Obama 'spied on my campaign' also did not appear to make a difference, with the president spending some of his final hours of the race venting about Robert Mueller and 'Russia, Russia, Russia,' but Biden only bringing up impeachment and 2016 Russian election interference occasionally.
It was nevertheless an extraordinary sign of the race that Trump called for jailing his 2016 rival, his predecessor, and his 2020 opponent.
Amid the coarse rhetoric, voters repeatedly registered the coronavirus as their top issue, and as election day approached U.S. infections continued to rise – with a record 99,321 cases the Friday before Election Day. Trump made the odd decision to attack infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most popular figures in the country, in the final days of the campaign.
Trump was able to maintain an edge in pre-election polling on the economy, after U.S. markets and hiring snapped back after steep drops in the second quarter. He hyped a promising third quarter figure and got one, but the data didn't stop a market slide or bump the virus off the front pages.
Even with major gains from prior months, the president still faced reelection at a time when tens of millions were filing for unemployment.
And although Trump was able to secure trillions from Congress to prop up the economy, negotiations between his administration and congressional Democrats stalled on the latest installment of a relief package, depriving him of a final round of checks to put in the hands of struggling Americans.
Biden inherits a divided country with deep splits over taxes, spending, the courts – and such basic issues as whether government should require people to wear a mask to fight the coronavirus.
With the coronavirus and the impact on the economy dominating voters' minds, Biden never had to run the campaign some Democrats were salivating for with a focus on Trump's business, appointment of family members, and retelling the story of the failed impeachment.
He was aided by late disclosures by the New York Times, who managed to obtain Trump tax returns that the president said he would release in 2016 and never did. One powerful talking point that made it into both debates: Trump had paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016.
Issues that hurt him in the primary, including a history of handsy contacts with women who said it made them uncomfortable and statements about working even with segregationists in the Senate to get things done, never resurfaced as a major factor in the general election.
Biden is confronted with a $20 trillion debt, a stalled coronavirus relief bill, a raging virus that has infected 9 million Americans and counting, a country that has seen street violence and protests over police shootings of unarmed black people, and an unpredictable incumbent with a mass following with no love lost for the 'deep state' he is leaving behind.
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