‘What a moment in history’: As TV anchors declare Biden the winner over Trump, emotions flow
“Quite frankly, the Democrats could not have picked a more perfect candidate to meet the moment,” said Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m thinking of the 32-year quest for presidency of this man — his resilience in the face of failed attempts in the past,” said NBC News chief foreign correspondent Andrea Mitchell. “To see the first woman vice president, the first woman of color, it is overwhelming in a way to think of the barriers that have been broken.”
Fox News was the last of the major cable news networks to make the announcement. About 15 minutes after CNN’s call, anchor Bret Baier said: “The Fox News Decision Desk can now project that former vice president Joe Biden will win Nevada and Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 electoral votes he needs to become the 46th president of the United States.”
Donna Brazile, a Democratic contributor on Fox News, was overcome with emotion when asked by Baier about the significance of Sen. Kamala D. Harris becoming the first woman and person of color to serve as vice president. “It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “To be the last to get voting rights. To be those who just waited and waited for our turn. It’s been a long time coming. . . . I’m so grateful that this moment has come. . . . Sorry for the tears. I don’t cry often. But the cry is because there’s so many women out there who made this happen.”
On ABC, anchor George Stephanopoulos said the announcement marked “the end of what may be America’s most uncommon presidency.”
His colleague, White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, said that President Trump “saw the presidency as the world’s greatest reality TV show. He was the executive producer, the chief promoter, and the star of the Trump show. He captivated the world’s attention unlike any political figure that we have ever seen. . . . He upended Washington. He transformed the Republican Party. He disregarded political norms.”
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell made the call on her network. “The kid from Scranton becomes the next leader of the free world,” she said.
“What a moment in history,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper said. He then launched into a critique of Trump. “It is the end, the end, of a tumultuous presidency. . . . It also has been a time of extreme divisions. Many of the divisions caused and exacerbated by President Trump himself. It’s been a time of several significant and utterly avoidable failures. Most tragically, of course, the unwillingness to respect facts and science and do everything that can be done to save lives during the pandemic. . . . With so many squandered opportunities and ruined potential, but also an era of just plain meanness.”
Over the past four days, network anchors and reporters have been aggressively covering the electoral margins in key states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada as Biden inched closer to a clear victory. The dam broke on Saturday morning.
