Donald Trump has become the first convicted felon to be elected U.S. president, according to CNN which called the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday morning.
Trump, the Republican nominee who faced four historic criminal indictments in the fallout from his first administration, defeated former prosecutor Vice President Kamala Harris, according to predictions from Decision Desk HQ and CNN.
Trump proved able to claim battleground states such as Georgia and North Carolina as Harris' blue wall collapsed.
The results shocked spectators who recalled the angry mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 on Jan. 6, his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, a conviction on charges he paid hush money to a porn star, and a sex abuse lawsuit that is costing Trump millions of dollars.
His campaign was marked by scandals that included insults to veterans, reports from former allies that he praised Nazis, a policy Nobel Prize-winning economists warn could ignite an "inflation bomb," reports from neurologists that the 78-year-old is showing signs of cognitive decline, racist lies that Haitian immigrants were eating pets and threats to sic the military on his political foes.
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Trump's victory came amid a red wave that saw Republicans regain the U.S. Senate majority — with MAGA conservatives such as Bernie Moreno ousting incumbent Democrats such as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
While analysts at CNN argued Harris ultimately proved unable to sell herself as an economic authority, New Republic staff writer Greg Sargent highlighted racism and misogyny.
Others cast blame on Sen. Mitch McConnell and the role he played in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021.
"Reminder that Trump would just be an angry retiree shouting at the TV right now had [Sen.] Mitch McConnell decided to do the right thing after 1/6," New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser wrote on X. "Amazing."
Legal experts say it is likely Trump will quash the two federal court cases against him on charges that he illegally tried to overthrow the 2020 presidential election and haphazardly stored classified information in his ballroom.
