Leading Republicans and Donald Trump’s campaign manager have reacted with delight to his shock electoral triumph.
Sarah Palin, running mate of 2008 nominee John McCain, compared the surprise victory with that of the Leave campaigners in the UK’s EU referendum.
“See, Great Britain?” she said. “See how we’re hooking up now? We’re going rogue and saying, we’re going to take back control of our governance.
“We’re going to be able to say no, we don’t want this globalism. We can’t be telling other countries, other nations how to sweep their porches, if we can’t sweep our own yet.”
Trump-Pence campaign manager Kellyanne Conway claimed the result unveiled a silent majority of Trump voters who had helped sweep him into power.
She tweeted: “Things that were true: undercover Trump vote; @mike_pence for VP; Hillary’s floor & ceiling r same; rally crowds matter; we expanded the map.”
She also agreed with a tweet from USA Today journalist Paul Singer alleging double standards: “Stunned that Hillary Clinton did not concede. If Donald Trump pulled that, people would go bananas.”
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who will now become Vice President, said as he introduced Trump for his victory speech: “This is a historic night.
“The American people have spoken, and the American people have elected their new champion.
“America has elected a new president. It is almost hard for me to express the honour that I and my family feel, that we will have the privilege to serve as your Vice President of the United States of America.”
To chants of ‘USA’ from a jubilant crowd, Pence said: “I come to this moment deeply humbled, and grateful to God for his amazing grace. I am grateful to my family.
“I am deeply grateful to the American people for placing their confidence in this team and giving us this opportunity to serve.
“I’m mostly grateful to our President-elect, whose leadership and vision will make America great again.”
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, not always an avid supporter of Donald Trump during the campaign despite being Republican, congratulated Trump on his ‘big night’, and called his victory ‘A repudiation of the status quo of failed liberal progressive policies’.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who did not vote for Trump, credited the down ballot Republican candidates for bringing Trump to victory, though did congratulate the President-elect, calling his triumph a ‘stunning victory’ that defied the odds.
He said: “I’m proud of and want to congratulate my Senate colleagues, particularly those in swing states who ran incredible races that helped President-elect Trump achieve his victory.
“We now have a country to run.”
Image courtesy of WEBN-TV via flickr, with thanks
