US election recap: Exit polls reveal who voted for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris presidency
Donald Trump has been elected President of the US for a second non-consecutive term. Recap a huge week in politics by scrolling through the posts below.
Key Events
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As election week draws to a close, so too does The Nightly’s live blog.
If you’re just joining us, feel free to scroll through the posts below to recap a huge week in world politics.
Thank you for joining us throughout the week as we witnessed an historic election result and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
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Russia using ‘targeted disinformation’ on election, agencies warn
Disinformation is at an all-time high in the lead-up to the US presidential election, cybersecurity agencies warn, but experts haven’t seen any evidence these efforts will directly affect the outcome of the vote.
Jen Easterly, director of the Centre for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said the country faced an “unprecedented” amount of disinformation from foreign adversaries ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
US agencies have warned that Russia and others intend to fan divisive narratives before Tuesday’s election, an accusation Russia has denied.
Officials in Georgia described a fake video circulating online that purportedly showed a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia IDs claiming to have voted multiple times as “targeted disinformation”.
In a statement, senior US intelligence officials linked the video back to Russia.
A senior CISA official said there was a high likelihood that foreign disinformation efforts would continue in weeks and months after the election up until January 6.
Harris win could be ‘just as bad’ for Ukraine as Trump
Latika M Bourke has just filed this exclusive report for The Nightly:
Ukraine’s former economy minister says a Trump White House may not necessarily be worse than a Kamala Harris presidency for his country given that any continuation of the Biden Administration’s approach to Ukraine would only lead to more deaths.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, who served as President Volodymr Zelensky’s Economy Minister and still maintains close ties to the Ukrainian Government, said Mr Trump was “not necessarily” a worse option for Ukraine.
“Trump definitely is unpredictable for Ukraine and also for Russia and a lot of people believe his unpredictability actually gives him additional leverage,” the now-president of the Kyiv School of Economics said.
Elon Musk million-dollar voter giveaway allowed
A state judge is allowing Elon Musk’s $US1 million-a-day giveaway to swing state voters to go ahead a day out from the tightly contested US presidential election.
The eccentric billionaire has already given away $US16 million ($A24 million) to registered battleground voters who qualified for the sweepstakes by signing his political petition supporting free speech and gun rights.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner attempted to block Musk’s scheme in court, arguing the giveaways violate state consumer protection laws.
Mr Krasner alleged the payouts amounted to an illegal lottery with hazily defined rules.
At a hearing in Philadelphia, the biggest city in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, Judge Angelo Fogliette rejected the DA’s case.
Harris’ celebrity endorsement campaign goes into overdrive
Vice President Kamala Harris has been lifted by a massive wave of celebrity endorsements across her 100+ day election campaign and that shows no sign of stopping.
In Las Vegas, Christina Aguilera, Los Tigres Del Norte and Sofi Tukker will perform and Eva Longoria will give a speech at a Get Out and Vote in the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry, D-Nice, Andra Day, DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Freeway and Just Blaze, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone are supporting Ms Harris at two rallies in Pennsylvania.
La Original Banda El Limón will perform at a Get Out and Vote event in Arizona.
Tim Walz is heading to Detroit, Michigan where the Detroit Youth Choir, Jon Bon Jovi and The War and Treaty will perform.
The vice presidential candidate will then head to Milwaukee Wisconsin for a rally with a performance by Eric Benét.
Fantasia Barrino, James Taylor, Remi Wolf, and Sugarland will perform in Raleigh, North Carolina
2 Chainz, F.L.Y, Joy of Jesse & Joy, Keyshia Cole, KP The Great, Morehouse House of Funk Marching Band, Pastor Troy and Tamar Braxton are supporting an event in Atlanta, Georgia.
Washington DC police chief issues warning ahead of election
Pamela Smith, Chief of Police for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC has issued a “clear” warning ahead of election day.
“Let me be clear, there will be no tolerance for violence in our city,” she said at a media conference on Monday afternoon local time.
“We are ready to handle different scenarios and we have officers in place.”
Ms Smith said there would be no tolerance for violence, destruction of property or threats to the integrity of the election process.
There are currently “no credible threats” of planned violence, however, there is obvious concern in the area.
A large amount of fencing has already been erected in the Capital, including around the vice president’s residence.
‘I don’t want your money’: Trump pleads with voters
“We’re just one day from the most important day,” Former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Reading, Pennsylvania.
“I don’t want your money. I just want your vote. So get out and bring your vote,” he added.
Mr Trump told the crowd if he wins Pennsylvania “we win the whole damn election”.
The state’s Electoral College offers 19 points in the race for 270 and is usually needed in a candidate’s journey to secure the presidency.
However, winning Pennsylvania doesn’t even guarantee becoming president.
Trump announced Mexico to be slapped with tariffs on day one
As former President Donald Trump took to the stage in Rayleigh, North Carolina for the final day of rallies, he announced he would slap Mexico with a 25 per cent tariff on all goods if they did not assist in funding his controversial and unfinished wall.
“Congrats, North Carolina, you’re the first ones to hear this,” he said.
“And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go up to 50 per cent. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to 75,” he added.
During Mr Trump’s presidency, his administration completed around 730km of the 1,600km wall.
Everything Harris and Trump are doing in their final election push
A US presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of election day.
Vice President Kamala Harris is spending all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome.
The Democratic nominee will visit working-class areas including Allentown and end with a late-night Philadelphia rally that includes Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.
Republican nominee Donald Trump is doing four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina and stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh.
The former president ends his campaign the way he ended the first two, with a late Monday night event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Trump’s chaotic closing days
Former president Donald Trump headlined a rally a week ago featuring a comedian’s remark that Puerto Rico is an “island of garbage.”
On Thursday, Trump insisted he had previously won New Mexico, a state he lost twice by big margins.
On Friday, he suggested a Republican adversary should have “guns trained on her face.” And the following day, he unleashed a profane speech saying women have to be protected “at home in suburbia.”
With Election Day looming, Trump’s near-daily pattern of making provocative or inflammatory remarks threatens to undermine his campaign’s message that a Trump presidency would restore an orderly, controlled leadership to the nation.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has sought to deploy the image of an unpredictable, volatile Trump to remind voters that his previous term was frequently marked by drama and conflict.
With a small but crucial group of voters still trying to make up their minds at the 11th hour, the drumbeat of incendiary moments could turn off those concerned about four more years of potential chaos, Democrats say.
Read the full article by Meryl Kornfield & Matt Viser for The Washington Post here.
Challenges ahead for US, regardless of outcome
Whichever way the US election falls, it’s difficult to see an outcome that doesn’t result in an America more deeply divided than ever before.
Should Kamala Harris win, expect immediate chaos.
Donald Trump has given every indication that he will not accept a loss. He has already made allegations of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, the largest of the crucial swing states, laying the groundwork for a potential challenge should the count go against him.
It’s left the world bracing for more January 6-style upheaval, though authorities quietly fear the greater threat will come from lone wolf actors, rather than an organised uprising.
Would a president Harris possess the considerable strength of character and leadership skills required to quell civil unrest and heal resultant fractures should that scenario arise? Her performance to date would indicate she does not.
A second Trump presidency represents a greater unknown. Undoubtedly, he would be more emboldened and more unpredictable a second time around.
That would have immense ramifications for the entire world, including Australia.
Trump has already promised to impose enormous tariffs on goods from China, our largest trading partner. The flow-on effect to our own economy will be significant.
Even if Australia manages to escape direct assault from Trump’s isolationist America First economic agenda, as a country with an open economy, we can expect to suffer heavy consequences should other nations fire back with retaliatory tariffs, putting a harness on global free trade.
And of course, there’s the fact that Trump is an unabashed demagogue with authoritarian tendencies and little respect for rules and laws, who has made no secret of his plan to use the office of the president to punish his enemies.
It would be disingenuous however to present the candidates’ character flaws as comparable. Harris is an uninspiring option, and a poor communicator, occasionally bordering on incoherent. However, she operates within the realm of normality. The same can’t be said of Trump.
