Has Donald Trump pulled off 'the greatest comeback in political history?'
| Updated:
Donald Trump is on course to win a second term as US president, after taking a huge early lead over Kamala Harris.
Listen to this article
Read time: 3 mins
In brief…
- Donald Trump is on course for a decisive win in the US election.
- Early votes show huge wins for the Republican nominee, with key swing states already turning red.
- The News Agents say the “convicted felon” may have just pulled off “the greatest comeback in political history”.
What's the story?
"Too close to call" was the message in the days leading up to the US election, but on the night of 5 November, everything changed.
Donald Trump, on his third run for president, took an early, decisive lead over Kamala Harris, claiming key swing states North Carolina and Georgia with huge margins within hours of voting closing.
“The fat lady hasn't sung just yet, but you feel that she's limbering up," says Jon Sopel from Washington DC.
"We're not yet in the position where Kamala Harris concedes, because we've got to see more votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, but it doesn't look good for her."
The Republicans are also projected to win the US Senate, with the Democratic Party set to lose its one-seat majority.
Harris has won traditional Democratic strongholds including California, while Trump took Texas with ease.
In Florida, a ballot vote to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution failed to reach the 60% needed to be passed into law.
The night has proven a huge success for Donald Trump, with US elections often taking days or even weeks to be decided due to vote-counting systems and appeals across the numerous states.
It is remarkable for a race to appear so certain so soon after voting has ended, with Trump also seemingly likely to win the popular votes as well - something no Republican candidate has done since George Bush in 2004.
“This could be his most impressive electoral victory," says Lewis Goodall.
"It could be more impressive than 2016”
Donald Trump is "on the verge of the greatest comeback in political history."
The News Agents take
One of the key stories tonight, Emily says, isn’t just that Donald Trump is winning - it’s how badly Kamala Harris is losing.
“We have been looking not just at the places where Kamala Harris lost, but the places where she did worse than Joe Biden,” Emily says.
New York, for example, a state that has always gone to the Democrats, has seen Trump pick up a substantial increase in vote share.
When Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee in the summer of 2024, she was seen to have reinvigorated the party’s election chances. Over the months of campaigning her rallies were packed, with superstars such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift urging their huge audiences to vote Democrat.
It wasn’t enough.
"There is still a path. The Democrats are briefing, although they're pretty despondent, that they still have some hope in terms of the blue wall," says Lewis.
“I think the Sun Belt is gone, but there is still some hope that perhaps in terms of the outstanding vote in Wisconsin, in Michigan, Pennsylvania, that it might be there.”“I do think part of the story of this election is clearly about Donald Trump's continued underestimated political strength.
“You have to say this, he's on the verge of the greatest comeback in political history, a guy who is a convicted felon, a guy who was responsible for an insurrection on the Capitol. And yet, despite all of that, the American electorate is on the verge of turning around and saying, we'll have more of that, please.”
Is this Trump victory even more devastating for the Democrats than 2016?
Listen in full on The News Agents
