It happened at 11:26 a.m. Eastern Time, and the reaction was instantaneous.
Joe Biden was named president-elect. Donald Trump was defeated.
And from coast to coast across the nation, for millions of Americans, Saturday morning abruptly changed from glum, enforced patience to dancing-in-the-street ecstatic.
Cheering crowds, car horns, popping corks, cowbells and blaring boom boxes made for a joyful cacophony from New York to Los Angeles to Washington D.C., Seattle to Chicago to Miami.
In Philadelphia, a crowd of Biden supporters jeered pro-Trump demonstrators across the street with a well-known sports ditty:
“Na na na-na, na na na-na. Hey, hey, goodbye!”
Frankie Rowles, a member of the Philly Biden crowd, praised his city’s contribution to the day: “Yeah, we did it, Philadelphia!” he shouted, near a reporter for the Washington Post. “I’m so proud of us!”
“It’s a new day in America,” said Barry Karas, 74, who was part of the celebration in D.C., not far from the White House, reports the New York Times.
“If it wasn’t a pandemic I’d hug you!” said a tall man wearing a black jacket and a blue medical mask.
“It’s surreal, I feel like I’m free from the clutches of evil,” Lola Faleit told the Associated Press in New York. “I feel less worried for my immigrant friends. In 2016, we woke up crying. Today we are celebrating. Look, the sky is clear blue, the sun is out, Mother Nature is celebrating, too.”
“In the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, people rushed into one intersection shortly after 1 p.m., hoisting American flags and bursting out loud with laughter,” the Post reported. Marie Norman, 55, was among those celebrating.
“I’ve been waiting four years for this,” she said. “It’s been misery for four years and people can finally feel relief.”
“All I could say is thank God,” said Kay Nicholas, a retired school principal near Detroit, who choked up as she told the AP her relief “has nothing to do with Democrat or Republican. It has to do with decency. This country has got integrity and hopefully we can get decency.
“I think Joe Biden can do it and bring back kindness.”
