By Christian Headlines | Created at 2024-11-06 11:58:53 | Updated at 2024-11-06 18:32:04
7 hours ago
Donald Trump reclaimed the White House on Tuesday and completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in U.S. history. Thanks to a diverse coalition not seen by a Republican president in decades, he became the first president in more than a century to win two non-consecutive terms. His 2024 victory over Democrat Kamala Harris looked a lot like his 2016 win, with a near-sweep of Southern states, a coalition of victories in the West and Southwest, and wins in the electoral vote-rich Midwest states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. All total, he tallied more than 300 electoral votes.
With a 51-47 percent lead the morning after the election, he was also on track to win the popular vote -- a feat he didn't achieve in 2016 or 2020. If he maintains that edge, he would be only the second Republican since 1992 to win the popular vote, the other being George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump is the first U.S. president since Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892 to win an election, lose one, and then win again. Trump was elected as the 45th president and now will be sworn in as the 47th president.
"We're going to help our country heal," Trump told cheering supporters moments after several media outlets declared him the winner.
"Every single day, I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body," he added. "I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America."
Trump's comeback is the greatest since at least Richard Nixon, whose political career appeared dead after losing the 1960 presidential election and then the 1962 California gubernatorial race before he stepped back into the political ring and won the 1968 presidential race.
"We just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America," Vice President-elect J.D. Vance told supporters of Trump before pledging, "We're gonna lead the greatest economic comeback."
Trump won thanks to a racially diverse coalition not seen by recent GOP nominees. He won 45 percent of the Latino vote -- the most by a Republican candidate since at least 1972. He won 38 percent of the Asian vote -- the most by a Republican since 2004. His 12 percent of the black vote was the same as in 2020, although both were the most for a GOP nominee since 1996.
His 44 percent of the Union vote was the most for a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
"This was a movement like nobody has ever seen," Trump said.
"Nobody's ever seen anything like that. They came from all corners -- union, non-union, African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Arab-American, Muslim-American. We had everybody, and it was beautiful. It was a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense. You know, we're the party of common sense."
Meanwhile, Trump boosted his support among white born-again/evangelical Christian voters, a demographic closely watched by experts in both parties. He received 81 percent from that group this year, more than in 2020 (76 percent) or 2016 (80 percent).
"This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again," he said. "... America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate."
Photo Credit: ©White House Flickr/Public Domain
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
