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Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Donald Trump sweeps to victory in historic upset



By Marisa Schultz, Daniel Halper and Bob Fredericks

November 9, 2016 | 2:33am | Updated



Photo: Getty Images


Donald Trump scored a stunning and historic upset victory in the presidential election Wednesday morning, once again defying predictions and winning key battleground states to capture the White House.

Trump supporters rejoice as election swings to trump

Giddy supporters at the New York Hilton — who were sullen just hours earlier — erupted in cheers as the GOP nominee closed in on victory, chanting, “President Trump,” “Drain the Swamp,” and “Lock her up!” about Hillary Clinton.

The celebration grew wilder still when TV monitors showed people crying at Clinton’s party at the Jacob Javits Center.

Ed Rollins, who ran Trump’s Great America Super PAC, basked in the victory.

“We won the presidency, the Senate and House. When’s the last time that happened?” Rollins told The Post. “The polls were bad! Trump is going to be president. He’s won this thing. He caught the wave of public discontent and rode it. Washington has to be stunned.”

“I’m feeling great,” Trump ally Rudy Giuliani told The Post as he strode into the party.

“If I can think of an analogous election, it would have to be Andrew Jackson. This is the people revolting against the Republican establishment,” he said.



Supporters celebrate as they watch election returns for Donald Trump at the Colorado Republican election night party Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Greenwood Village, Colo.Photo: AP

Still, Clinton’s campaign announced early Wednesday that it would not concede.

But in a tweet to supporters, the former secretary of state seemed resigned to what had to be a heartbreaking upset after working for the former first lady — who had worked for years to become the first female president in the nation’s 240-year history.

“Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything,” she wrote.

Supporters were equally downbeat.

Lena Dunham, the outspoken Clinton backer and “Girls” actress, was asked to comment about the election results as she left a Clinton VIP party at around 10:45 p.m.

“I’m sorry, not tonight,” Dunham told The Post.

InsideGov | Graphiq

“Somewhere, [Vladimir] Putin is laughing manically,” another Clinton supporter said as others broke down in tears.

Neera Tanden, a Clinton confidante whose blunt e-mails were among those released by WikiLeaks, was spotted leaving the Javits Center at 11:05 pm.
Asked about the results, Tanden said: “I’ve been through a lot of battles with her, and I’ve seen her come out strong.”

Asked about gloomy numbers coming out of Michigan and Wisconsin — blue states that are key to Clinton’s survival — Tanden said, “We’ll see how it goes.”

”I honestly feel a piece of my soul died,” said Katie Larson, a 25-year-old musician living in Manhattan. “We lost a piece of our dignity as Americans.”

Reaction around the nation and the globe was muted as people digested the shocking upset.

“After Brexit and this election, everything is possible from now on. A world collapsing before our eyes. Dizzying,” tweeted Gerard Araud, French ambassador to the US.

Chinese state media described the election as the embodiment of America’s democracy in crisis in contrast to China’s stability under authoritarian rule.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said the campaign highlighted that “the majority of Americans are rebelling against the US’s political class and financial elites.”

Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said a win by Trump in the US election would stall recent moves to improve relations between the countries.

She said the “more closed, isolationist and xenophobic” model represented by the Trump would have a negative impact on the world and relations with Latin America.

Silicon Valley bigs also freaked out.


Dejected supporters at a rally for Hillary outside the Javits Center in New York City on Tuesday night.Photo: Tamara Beckwith

Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of the venture capital company Sherpa Capital, which helped fund Uber, Airbnb and Slack, tweeted that if Trump wins, he would start funding a campaign to allow California to secede from the US and form a new country.

Hollywood lefties were also slack-jawed and angry.

“Xanax,” Mia Farrow tweeted.

“Putin’s gonna win this thing,” Sarah Silverman wrote on Twitter.

Before the polls closed, betting markets and national polls all gave Clinton the edge.

But as the results dripped in, Trump’s prediction earlier in the day took new prominence.

“I think a lot of the polls are phony,” he had said.

The mood among Team Trump had soured after Clinton widened her lead in the polls following FBI Director James Comey’s announcement Sunday that he would not be pursuing criminal charges over her email server.

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But the candidate remained upbeat.

“I will be watching the election results from Trump Tower in Manhattan with my family and friends. Very exciting!” Trump tweeted.

By 11 p.m., sales at the New York Hilton party’s cash bar were brisk.

What began as a morose gathering — and nothing like a victory party — slowly turned joyous as Trump’s biggest fans began to sense that victory was in reach.

It’s looking “good” for Trump, George W. Bush’s former strategist Mark McKinnon said inside the filled ballroom.

“I think this is really a significant movement,” added Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), one of Trump’s biggest boosters.

Meanwhile, stock futures cratered, plunging 700 points at one point, and bonds rallied as the outcome of the election remained unclear.

Additional reporting by Carl Campanile and Post Wire Services


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