Joe Biden supporters celebrate his victory outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
Wilmington:
Hundreds of Joe Biden supporters cheered and sounded car horns as they and members of the president-elect’s family gathered at his election headquarters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday before a victory party.
After TV stations declared Biden, 77, the winner in Tuesday’s election shortly before 11:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m. GMT), many Democrats descended on the Chase Center, where the next President of the United States will lead the celebrations later. .
Inside the adjacent Westin Hotel, Biden’s family and campaign team expressed joy at Biden making Donald Trump president for a term.
“I am delighted,” Biden’s younger brother Jim Biden told AFP.
Campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said she was on the run when her mother called her to tell her CNN sparked Biden’s election.
“Ecstatic – a beautiful day for this county,” she told reporters, after walking through the hotel lobby in a white Biden t-shirt.
Shortly before the long-awaited announcement, Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, called the result “wonderful.”
“It’s a wonderful thing for us but it’s a better thing for America,” she told reporters.
Symone Sanders, Biden’s senior adviser, said his team were “thrilled and excited.”
“It’s a victory, frankly, for America,” she told reporters.
Outside the perimeter fence of the hall, Biden fans waved balloons, American flags and held up Biden-Harris signs. They shared food and drinks while waiting in hopes of catching a glimpse of Biden later.
The president-elect is due to take the stage in the parking lot of the center around 8:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT Sunday).
Several hundred cars full of supporters are expected to attend the rally behind the wheel of an election victory party that will be unlike any other due to social distancing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Fireworks and music are expected. Biden will be joined by his wife Jill, the next US Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.
Just over a mile away, in downtown Wilmington, residents expressed a wave of glee that the sleeping town’s favorite son was stepping into the country’s highest office.
“I’m glad I wanted Trump to come out,” said Kristina Moncada, 31.
“It’s great because he knows the area. He’s just easier to understand, he’s a real guy. He thinks what he says and he will keep his word.”
Aaron Fisher, 31, took a break from his gym workout when he heard the news to prepare for the celebrations.
“It is high time. They have been making us wait for the results for a long time. I had the impression that we knew it was going to happen. It is like a delayed gratification,” he told AFP .
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
