New Delhi: After US television networks unanimously called the presidential elections in Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden’s favour late Saturday, several world leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Germany’s Angela Merkel hailed the President-elect.
Twitter was also abuzz with comments from a wide range of celebrities and here are some of the most interesting tweets on the Biden victory.
First up is the victor Biden, who declared his election as a “victory for ‘We the People’”.
Folks, the people of this nation have spoken.
They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory.
A victory for “We the People.”
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 8, 2020
Literally minutes after the election was called for the Democratic candidate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris shared a video of her phone call to Biden. In the video, she can be heard telling Biden, “We did it, Joe. You are going to be the next president of the United States.”
We did it, @JoeBiden. pic.twitter.com/oCgeylsjB4
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 7, 2020
Harris’ husband then put out a photo of them hugging in joy.
So proud of you. ❤️❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Orb1ISe0dU
— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) November 7, 2020
Meanwhile, outgoing president Donald Trump has refused to accept Biden’s victory, claiming election fraud.
THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
71,000,000 Legal Votes. The most EVER for a sitting President!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
And how about this? The Dalai Lama sent his wishes, saying that “humanity places great hope in the democratic vision of the US’’.
I’d like to offer my hearty congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as the next President of the United States of America. Humanity places great hope in the democratic vision of the U.S. as leader of the free world. https://t.co/axL0ko3ff8
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) November 8, 2020
Here is a real piquant one: Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Vice President (and eventually President) in HBO’s popular comedy Veep, tweeted in support of Harris.
“Madam Vice President” is no longer a fictional character. @KamalaHarris pic.twitter.com/rg1fErtHGX
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) November 7, 2020
The New York Times correspondent Ellen Barry shared a meme by conservative news aggregator Drudge Report, which called Biden’s victory with a photo of Trump frowning, and the words, “You’re fired” — the latter’s catchphrase on the NBC reality show “The Apprentice”.
— Ellen Barry (@EllenBarryNYT) November 7, 2020
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar got all emotional about the Biden victory and recalled her father.
Alhamdulillah. Dad he has been defeated, sad you aren’t here to see it but we finally did it.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 7, 2020
German news magazine Der Spiegel recalled its controversial 2017 cover that depicted Trump holding the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty, following Biden’s victory. An image by the same artist shows Biden putting Lady Liberty’s head back in place, for the magazine’s cover in the Saturday edition.
On Feb 4th, 2017, Der SPIEGEL featured a cover depicting Donald Trump beheading Lady Liberty. Today, on Nov 7th, 2020, we reference said cover by updating our current issue … #46. pic.twitter.com/ilSRhEk3CK
— SPIEGEL English (@SPIEGEL_English) November 7, 2020
Celebrities like Lady Gaga and Padma Lakshmi also congratulated Biden, in their own way. While Gaga was all compliments, Lakshmi shared a video with her famous line from the show Top Chef: “Donald Trump, please pack your knives and go!”
. @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris and the American people, you just gave the world one of the greatest acts of kindness and bravery humanity has ever seen. ❤️ 🙌🙌 nothing but love for our new Commander in Chief and the 1ST female VP elected to the White House. Also, way to go PA 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/uXiMTWs6Hk
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 7, 2020
Been waiting to say this since November 8, 2016 🙋🏾♀️: pic.twitter.com/8HutuAHkev
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) November 7, 2020
Sci-fi author Stephen King, who once said Trump’s presidency was “scarier” than his novels, was feeling pretty pleased with the way things turned out.
Sometimes…the good guys win.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 7, 2020
And Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James said it in action.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 7, 2020
Bollywood was also in a good mood: Actor Richa Chadha has hopes for the future.
Biden Harris and a small dollop of hope ! 2020 ends better than it started.❣️🏹
— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) November 7, 2020
And let’s end with Preet Bharara, the former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, who was fired by Trump, retweeting a moving poem of hope.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) November 8, 2020