Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump barreled into election evening with cautious optimism that their respective campaigns would prevail. Harris’ exuberant supporters gathered at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, D.C., whereas Trump’s assured followers descended on a conference heart in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The polling averages confirmed a decent race that might be determined by razor-thin margins in key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. But as the primary waves of returns streamed in, Trump’s benefits within the swing states shortly grew to become clear — elating Republicans and demoralizing Democrats.
The United States stays as bitterly divided as ever. Trump will return to the White House following a marketing campaign notable for its darkish rhetoric and his bellicose vows to upend the federal authorities. Harris, who stood to make historical past as the primary feminine U.S. president, failed to beat fierce nationwide headwinds; Democrats now look to an unsure future.
Here, via pictures and illustration, we discover a divided nation’s reactions to profitable, shedding and the longer term.