A NATION DIVIDED, AS TRUMP UPSETS HILLARY: THE 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL POLLS
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks while meeting with President-elect Donald Trump (l) following a meeting in the Oval Office, Nov. 10, in Washington, D.C. Trump also met with members of the Republican leadership in Congress later that day, on Capitol Hill. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
As America elected it’s 45th President, the country saw unprecedented divide and protests following the election of President Donald Trump. While both President Barack Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have called for calm and support to the President-elect, the protests seem to grow by the hour. Trump, meanwhile, blames the media for inciting protests against him, write Yoshita Singh and Lalit K. Jha. – @siliconeer #siliconeer #2016USPresidentialPolls #Trump #Hillary #HillaryClinton #DonaldTrump #TheDonald #WhiteHouse #BarackObama #realDonaldTrump #notmypresident #Calexit
If Trump succeeds, the country succeeds: Obama
President Barack Obama met for the first time his successor Donald Trump at the White House, Nov. 10, and vowed his support for him as the two leaders discussed domestic and foreign policy issues to take a step towards transition of power after a bitterly fought election.
The meeting originally scheduled for 10 minutes, lasted for 90 minutes.
Obama described his meeting with Trump as “excellent” and wide-ranging.
“Most of all, I want to emphasize to you, Mr. President-elect, that we now are going to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed then the country succeed,” he told reporters after the meeting.
“I have been very encouraged by an interest in President-elect Trump’s wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that the country faces,” Obama said.
“I believe that it is important for all regardless of party and regardless of political preferences to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges we face.
“We talked about some of organizational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy,” he said.
Obama said his number one priority is to ensure smooth transition of power.
“As I sat last night, my number one in the next coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is successful,” he said.
Trump said he looks forward to working with the President.
Trump said he had “respect for the President” and said they talked about some wonderful and difficult things.
Asked if he would seek the advice of the President, Trump said Obama was a “very fine man.”
“We had never met.. The meeting was supposed to last 10 minutes… I have great respect… it went on for an hour-and-a-half and as far as I’m concerned it could have gone on longer… we really discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties. I very much look forward to dealing with the President in the future, including counsel,” Trump said.
“Mr. President, was a great honor being with you and I look forward to being with you many many more times in the future,” he said.
Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania, who also met First Lady Michelle Obama.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence also accompanied them.
The two have had almost no one-on-one contact previously.
Trump, 70, flew from New York on his private jet and landed at Reagan National Airport, just outside the nation’s capital. Trump broke from protocol and barred journalists from traveling with him to cover his meeting with President Obama.
The Republican president-elect has questioned President Obama’s U.S. citizenship and vowed to dismantle his legacy.
During the election campaign President Obama called Trump “uniquely unqualified.”
President Obama had urged all Americans to accept the result of the presidential election.
“We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” he had said.
Later, Trump drove to the Capitol Hill to meet Congressional leaders including Speaker of the House of Representative, Paul Ryan.
At the Capitol Hill, Trump along with Melania and Pence had a lunch on meeting on the transition.
“The Speaker has also invited President-elect Trump to the Capitol after their meeting to show him where he’ll be sworn in on Inauguration Day,” said Speaker’s office. – Lalit K. Jha
We owe Trump open mind and chance to lead: Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton graciously accepted her defeat in the U.S. Presidential election, Nov. 9, saying she hopes Donald Trump will be a successful President for all Americans and that the “deeply divided” nation owes him “an open mind and the chance to lead.”
“This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for. And I’m sorry that we didn’t win this election for the values we share and for the vision we hold for our country,” Clinton told a large gathering of her supporters in as she took the podium to concede the closely-fought elections.
“Last night I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans,” she said.
“We must accept this result and look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe Trump an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power and we don’t just respect that we cherish it,” she said.
To women across America, she said nothing has made her prouder than to be their champion.
“I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling but someday, someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now,” she said adding that the nation is stronger together and “we will go forward together.
“Let us not grow wary, let us not lose heart for there are more seasons to come and there is more work to do,” she said. – Yoshita Singh
“Not My President,” say Angry Americans on Trump Victory
Hundreds of thousands of Americans rallied across the U.S., Nov. 10, as anger over Donald Trump’s election victory spilled on to the streets amid chants of “Not my President” and “No Fascists USA,” deepening the political turmoil further after months-long bitter campaign.
Disappointment turned into protest as people in huge numbers rallied in at least 25 US cities – including Oakland and San Jose, New York and Nashville, Chicago and Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle – shouting anti-Trump slogans, burning effigies, and holding candlelight vigils to mourn the Nov. 9 result of the general election in which Trump secured a stunning victory despite his explosive and divisive rhetoric.
Several arrests took place when the demostrators – that included people from all ages, faiths and nationalities – held vigils and blocked traffic.
Angry Americans assembled at landmark locations in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Oakland, San Jose, Colorado, Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, San Francisco and other cities, and were seen walking on roads and highway between moving traffic, holding placards that read ‘No more Hate’, and chanting “Not my President.” “Not today.”
Outside Trump’s residence in Trump Tower on New York’s Fifth Avenue, protesters gathered with signs that read “Dump Trump.” Protesters walked about 40 streets from 14th Street to Fifth Avenue. Streets surrounding the towers were completely shut off due to the protests.
Authorities estimated that as many as 5,000 people protested the real estate mogul’s victory outside the Trump Tower, including pop star Lady Gaga who is a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter.
Thousands of protesters blocked entry to the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago.
In Los Angeles, demonstrators sprayed the Los Angeles Times building and news vans with anti-Trump profanity. Late in the evening, hundreds of people blocked one of the city’s busiest freeways – U.S. 101 between downtown and Hollywood.
Demonstrators outside the Los Angeles City Hall also set ablaze a giant, box-shaped head resembling Trump’s, topped with bright orange hair.
In Washington, protesters gathered outside the White House protesting against Trump’s racism, sexism and xenophobia. A candlelight vigil was also held outside the White House last evening.
Angry against the election of Trump as the president of the country, people were heard chanting “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascists USA” and “Not my president!”
The massive protests came hours after Trump, a political outsider, secured a stunning victory against Clinton, defying all forecast, a development that refused to end months-long bitter campaigning by the two political leaders.
The 70-year-old real estate tycoon, who is said to have started off his maiden political campaign with a team of just six persons and a Twitter account, single-handedly ran one of the most unconventional presidential campaigns in which political correctness was tossed out of the window. He has been slammed by many for his divisive and derogatory rhetoric against minorities, women and immigrants.
“I’m disappointed, shocked, a little panicked for my friends and family – for everything that will be unleashed, the hate that will be unleashed,” Marion Hill, 22, who joined thousands amassed outside the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago, told The Chicago Tribune.
Some Californians also took to the social media and the state Capitol to voice their opinions that California should secede from the U.S. after Trump’s win. #Calexit was trending nationally.
In the polls, Clinton had won California, pocketing 55 electoral college votes.
Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets with many holding anti-Trump and ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs and chanting slogans, including “Misogyny has to go,” and “The people united, will never be defeated”.
Five persons were shot and injured in an area near the protest. However, police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated.
In Austin, protesters blocked a highway while in Oakland, Calif., protesters lit fires in the street and stood around them chanting as they gathered in large numbers, blocked freeways and city streets.
One member of the crowd near the White House held an upside-down American flag, alongside the LGBT rainbow flag, in silent protest, a media report said.
Kelly Lopez, a young Latino said, she has been upset since morning when it was clear that Trump will be the next U.S. President. She said a person who throughout his campaign has resorted to racism, bigotry, fascism and insulting women and minorities, cannot change overnight and say that he will work for all American people.
“You have bases your entire electoral race on bringing down people, you cannot suddenly change that,” she said.
John Jacob, referring to Trump’s victory speech, said he does not trust Trump when he said he will “bind the wounds of division.”
“How does he take back everything he said in his campaign and the debates,” Jacob said, adding that Trump does not have the experience or the intelligence of Clinton.
A young African American student Elaz Iben said Trump will be president of the country for the next four years and “while I will respect the institution of the presidency, I will also respect my right to protest.”
The protests in the city as well as across other parts of the country were organized by a group called Socialist Alternative.
“The victory of Donald Trump is being met with shock, fear, and anger. Especially for immigrants, Muslims, people of color, women, and other oppressed people who Trump has singled out for attack, the question of how to defend themselves against the coming attacks is sharply posed,” the group said.
It urged people to come together and demonstrate their “mass opposition” to Trump.
“Build a wall around Trump’s bigoted agenda,” the group said on its Facebook page.
The group said the protests must be the beginning of “coordinated nationwide mobilizations to organize millions into a massive grassroots movement.” – Yoshita Singh
Nadella congratulates Trump; looks forward to work with him
Tech giant Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella has congratulated U.S. President- elect Donald Trump and said he looks forward to working with all those elected in the general election.
“Yesterday, we witnessed the democratic process in action here in the U.S. The results are of importance around the world, and I know that interest is shared among Microsoft employees,” Nadella, 49, wrote on Microsoft-owned professional networking site LinkedIn.
“We congratulate the president-elect, and look forward to working with all those elected yesterday. Our commitment to our mission and values are steadfast, and in particular fostering a diverse and inclusive culture,” he said.
Trump Says Media Inciting Protests Against Him
Angry Americans staged nationwide protests for a second day against Donald Trump’s election victory, with thousands besieging New York and Chicago, as the president-elect accused the media of inciting “professional protesters” against him.
Fresh protests erupted in several U.S. cities for a second night as coast to coast demonstrations witnessed thousands of people filling the streets, including at the White House and outside Trump’s properties.
Reports of protests came in from cities like New York, Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Colorado, Los Angeles, and Seattle. While most protesters were peaceful, dozens were arrested.
The latest protests were, however, smaller in scale and less intense than those that were witnessed a day earlier.
Some of the protesters had come from distant parts of the U.S.
At least three officers were wounded, and about 40 fires were set in one California city, the CNN reported.
In his first reaction to the massive protests, Trump accused the media of inciting “professional protesters” against him.
“Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting.
“Very unfair!” Trump tweeted after he reached New York following a day of hectic meetings in Washington, D.C.
The White House said people have constitutional rights to protest but these protests need to be peaceful.
“I think the first thing the President would say is that we’ve got a carefully, constitutionally protected right to free speech, and the President believes that that is a right that should be protected.
“It is a right that should be exercised without violence,” the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said when asked about President Obama’s view on this.
“There are people who are disappointed in the outcome.
The President’s message in the Rose Garden was it’s not surprising that people are disappointed in the outcome, but it’s important for us to remember, a day or two after the election, that we’re Democrats and Republicans, but we’re Americans and patriots first,” he said.
“That’s the message that the President hopes that most people will hear. But are there some people who are going to be disappointed, and are they going to express those views in public. I think we’ve seen that that’s the case. They have constitutional rights to do that, and those rights should be protected. But the President would obviously want them to hear his message as well,” Earnest said.
The National Nurses United in a statement called on Trump to follow up on his calls for national unity by reassuring immigrant families that they do not have to fear deportation, and renouncing some who have used the election outcome as a pretext to threaten minorities or promote hate crimes.
In his victory speech, Trump pledged to “be president for all Americans” and said it was “time for us to come together as one united people”.
However, in the hours since the election was called, “millions of Americans, especially immigrant families and other people of color have had reasons for fear that they will face deportation or other attacks on their safety and their rights”, said Jean Ross, co-president of the organization.
