Strabane natives living in New York hail Biden victory

 

Joe Biden’s projected win in the presidential race on Saturday took him over the threshold of 270 electoral college votes needed to secure victory nation-wide.

 

However Donald Trump has refused to accept Joe Biden’s projected victory, and has made unsubstantiated fraud claims.

 

“When news that Joe Biden won this year’s Presidential Election was announced, I didn’t have to turn on the TV, look at my phone or go on a news website to find out,” former Strabane Chronicle reporter, Rachel Quigley explained.

 

“Shortly after 11.30am on Saturday, November 7, rapturous applause, cheers, whoops, honking cars and delighted screams erupted from outside my window and I knew the four-day agonising wait was over.

 

“It was like the city of New York had been holding its breath since election night and could finally breathe again.

 

That honking, cheering and clapping did not stop all day. That may sound annoying, but the joy felt in my Brooklyn neighbourhood was palpable. After so much uncertainty, fear and despair, there was finally hope again.”

 

Rachel, who now works for Conde Nast, a global media company which has magazines of the likes of Vogue and Vanity Fair in its portfolio said that in all her years living in New York, she has never known the US to be such a fractured society.

 

She continued, “Thousands of residents filled the streets – all wearing masks – and parks around the city for celebrations that lasted into the night – sporadic dance offs, champagne sprays, singing and the coming together of strangers who all shared the same hope – that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can fix the damage Donald Trump has caused over the last four years.

 

“In the entire time I have lived here, I have never felt the country so divided and fractured. Joe Biden may not be perfect, but he has already done what many presidents have failed to do before him – nominate the first woman as vice president. 

 

“He is setting up a Covid-19 taskforce and I have no doubt he will reverse all the rights Trump took away from immigrants like me, so that I can finally feel at home again in a place I have called home for the last 10 years.”

 

Anthony Duffy lives in Boston with his wife Joanna and their children. He believes Joe Biden will be a “breath of fresh air.”

 

“He carries himself well and speaks like a leader,” Anthony said. 

 

“I think right now that is what America needs. Trump just doesn’t carry himself like a leader, especially when

dealing with the Black Lives Matter issue and the pandemic.

 

“Being the next president for anybody will be a very difficult job so I wish Biden well and I hope he and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris can bring some sort of normalcy back to the country. Because if I’m entirely honest,

I’m sick of everyone arguing and fighting.”