Democrat Joe Biden has been elected as the 46th President of United States of America (USA) defeating incumbent President Donald Trump (Republican), according to CNN projections.

 

His victory came after he crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania. 

 

However, Trump, who was on the golf course when CNN and other networks called the race for the former vice president, has shown no indication that he intends to concede. While en route to his course in Virginia, he tweeted: "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!".

 

In a written statement, President-Elect Biden, who is expected to address the American people later in the day, said he was "honored and humbled" by the trust the American people have placed in him.

 

"In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America," Biden said. "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation."

 

"We are the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do, if we do it together."

California Sen. Kamala Harris, his running mate, will make history as the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of Southeast Asian descent to become vice president. On Twitter, she posted a video of her victory call with Biden: "We did it, we did it Joe. You're going to be the next President of the United States."

 

It was Biden's boyhood state of Pennsylvania that put him over the 270 electoral vote threshold and delivered the White House. Trump had held a wide lead over Biden on the night of the election, but as election officials counted hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots, the race shifted dramatically in Biden's favour, infuriating Trump and his allies, who knew the President's path to the White House was over without the commonwealth.