'It's time to put the anger behind us and come together as a nation'

The 2020 election has been 77-year-old Joseph R Biden's third attempt at winning the presidency. Pic/AFP

The moment has met Joseph R. Biden. The networks have called the US election for Biden. After four full days of waiting patiently for the slow march of vote counting to work itself out, Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R Biden, 77, pulled off one of the great political turnarounds in America by defeating Donald Trump in the US 2020 election and is now effectively the country's President-elect.

Exactly 160 years ago around this time, Abraham Lincoln was elected US President. The current occupant of the White House continues to project a defiant public posture, though. Five states are yet to report final results.

Biden's victory comes amidst a most unusual terrain for a presidential election. From coast to coast, mail-in ballots did the star turn for Biden and his VP pick Kamala Harris in an election transformed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Biden's big breakthrough came around 9 am Friday when he broke into the lead in Pennsylvania and initially overtook Trump by about 5,000 votes. Oddly enough, this is the state where, in the week before election day, Trump told voters that he wanted to "get the hell out of here." That was a roundabout reference to the circumstances forcing Trump to campaign in places which he won comfortably in 2016 but the irony isn't lost in the context of a Biden win here.

One of youngest Senators to the oldest Prez

Third time lucky is an apt phrase to describe the remarkable rise of Biden, a veteran in US politics for around five decades, from being one of the youngest senators in history to the oldest American president. Biden, a familiar face to many Americans who has spent five decades in Washington and served two terms in the White House as former president Barack Obama's vice president.

Census takers say they were told to enter false information

Two census takers have revealed that their supervisors pressured them to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the once-a-decade national headcount. Maria Arce said her supervisor in Massachusetts offered step-by-step instructions in how to trick the system. She said she felt guilty about lying, but she did not want to disobey her supervisors, who kept repeating that they were under pressure from a regional office in New York to close cases.

Tweet talk

Hillary Clinton
The voters have spoken, and they have chosen @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris to be our next president and vice president. It's a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.

Lady Gaga
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the American people, you just gave the world one of the greatest acts of kindness and bravery humanity has ever seen. Nothing but love for our new commander in chief and the 1st female VP elected to the White House. Also, way to go PA

Mindy Kaling
Crying and holding my daughter, "look baby, she looks like us"

Rahul Gandhi
Congratulations, Vice-President-elect @KamalaHarris! It makes us proud that the first woman to serve as Vice President of the USA traces her roots to India.

Barack Obama
We're fortunate that Joe's got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way. Because when he walks into the White House in January, he'll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has - a raging pandemic - an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril

Justin Trudeau
Congratulations, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Our two countries are close friends, partners, and allies. We share a relationship that's unique on the world stage. I'm really looking forward to working together and building on that with you both.

Bernie Sanders
I want to congratulate all those who worked so hard to make this historic day possible. Now, through our continued grassroots organizing, let us create a government that works for ALL and not the few. Let us create a nation built on justice

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