As Donald Trump delivered his victory speech in New York City early Wednesday morning, the president-elect was joined onstage by approximately 50 of his biggest supporters.
For all the talk about losers over the length of the campaign, it was surprising, to say the least, that Donald Trump never became the biggest loser of the 2016 election. But that is the math of the Electoral College, and Hillary Clinton could not win enough swing states to come out on top and reach 270 electoral votes. In the end, despite what many thought, Clinton was the one to concede after all. Initially, Trump claimed he would only accept the results if he won, and well, he stuck to that promise. The transcript of Trump’s victory speech captures this entire bizarre election, which has finally come to an end, after the Associated Press called him the winner of the 2016 election.
Hillary Clinton, of course did not give a concession speech Tuesday night, even though the past two elections have seen concession speeches on election night. John McCain and Mitt Romney have both stood up and congratulated their opponent on a campaign well fought and a victory won fair and square. In 2000, Al Gore waited for the Florida recounts before doing the same. And John Kerry, like Clinton, waited until the next day. Had the tables been flipped, there was thought that a concession speech might have been skipped altogther. That caused plenty of fear, especially given the unpredictable nature of Trump supporters’ pledges to go as far as to take up arms in support of a revolution were Clinton to win. But in the end, Trump and his supporters got what he wanted.
Donald Trump addresses supporters as the president-elect of the United States. https://t.co/uebjp7zcCV #Election2016 https://t.co/MhoyDguHNe
— ABC News (@ABC) November 9, 2016
