I will be a President for all Americans: Joe Biden after winning US Presidential election

The 77-year-old former US vice president will become the 46th President of the United States after a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

WASHINGTON: Democrat Joe Biden on Saturday said that he will be a ''President for all Americans'' - those who voted for him and those who didn't - after defeating his Republican challenger and incumbent President Donald Trump in the bitterly contested US Presidential election 2020.

Biden also took to Twitter to thank the American voters and 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.

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. pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8 — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 7, 2020

Joe Biden on Saturday defeated incumbent Republican US President Donald Trump in the closely-fought presidential election, leading American media houses claimed.

The 77-year-old former US vice president will become the 46th President of the United States, CNN reported, after a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

With Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 273 electoral votes. Before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama. He is also Delaware's longest-serving senator.

Senator Kamala Harris, 56, who is of Indian origin, has become the first-ever woman vice president-elect of the United States. She would also be the country's first Indian-origin, first Black and first African American vice president of the country.

Biden and Harris would be sworn in as the President and Vice President of the country on January 20. "This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It's about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let's get started," tweeted Vice President-elect Harris.

Interestingly, Trump was playing golf in Virginia when major media outlets called the race. He is now the first incumbent president to lose a re-election bid after George H W Bush in 1992.

Major media outlets started calling Biden the winner after it became clear that he has taken a major lead in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral college votes, making him cross the benchmark of the 270 electoral college votes.

Counting of ballots is still ongoing in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. Biden has the lead in all the four states, which according to major media outlets is unlikely to be reversed.

"Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States", CNN said, after a victory in the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

"Former vice president Joe Biden is projected to win Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes, according to Edison Research, putting him over the 270 needed to win the presidency," The Washington Post reported.

The call came about 11:30 AM Saturday (local time) after a report of more counted votes from Pennsylvania.

Biden's victory amounted to a repudiation of Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of colour, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans.

Over 160 million votes were cast in the US elections 2020 which took place amid the COVID-19 outbreak for the first time in the history of the US presidential elections.