Anti-LGBT Governor Finally Concedes in North Carolina

Anti-LGBT North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has finally conceded defeat, almost a month on from the November 8th election.

Many, especially those in LGBT and forward thinking circles viewed his bid to be re-elected governor as a referendum on a law which limits bathroom rights for transgender individuals.

The measure known as House Bill 2 (or HB2) was signed into state law in March and banned transgender people from using government-run restrooms that match their gender identity.

Furthermore the bill also limits protections for gay and lesbian people, in terms of businesses being allowed to refuse service to LGB people based solely on their sexual orientation.

It appears that McCrory loosing his position, is just one further backlash against the bill, which has been blamed for the loss of millions of dollars to North Carolina's economy, and resulted in some major sporting events boycotting the state.

McCrory will be preceded by Democrat Roy Cooper, who will be the 75th Governor of North Carolina. Cooper declared victory on election night, with a 5,000 vote majority, but until now McCrory has refused to give in, seeking recount after recount, and challenging the validity of votes cast, going down the Trump line of saying ballots cast for Cooper may have been illegal, but just like Trump, had no evidence to support his claims.

But today election data showed Cooper's lead had grown to over 10,000 votes, McCrory had only been entitled to a recount if he trailed by less than 10,000 votes, so he had no choice but to finally concede defeat.

McCrory's concession has been widely welcomed, including by the Human Rights Campaign, who were quick to tweet their joy at the news...

In his victory statement Cooper said "I'm proud to have received the support from so many who believe that we can come together to make a North Carolina that works for everyone" - a statement which will come as welcome news, especially minorities such as LGBT's who have been discriminated against as a result of HB2, and effectively treated like second class citizens.

Though this is a glimmer of light in what has been a very dark time for politics in the United States, with Donald Trump continuing to appoint individuals with anti-LGBT sentiment to his cabinet, you can't help but worry about what will happen when he takes office in January.

Trump has promised not to touch the Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage, but in today's political climate, you've got to wonder if anything can be believed, with any degree of certainty anymore.

Criticism over Trump's potential anti-gay Supreme Court pick

On Sunday, in an interview with 60 Minutes on CBS, President Elect Donald Trump said his administration would not touch the Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage. He said it was the law and it wouldn't be touched, but with that in mind, one has to wonder what he's thinking in terms of his potential Supreme Court judge pick.

William H. Pryor Jr wrote a legal brief when he was Attorney General for Alabama in 2003, in which he defended a Texan law that criminalised consensual gay sex, the law was later struck down by none other than the Supreme Court.

The law was struck down after campaigners argued it was a violation of an individual's right to privacy. Personally I think it should have been struck down because it's utterly ridiculous, but we all know how crazy the United States can be. The decision meant it struck down all sodomy laws in the 13 states that still had them on the statute book at that time in 2003.

In the past Mr. Pryor has compared it to polygamy, incest, paedophilia, prostitution and adultery, adding that the Alabama court had "never recognised the right to engage in sexual activity outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage, let alone to engage in homosexual sodomy".

At the time Pryor also said that Texas was not alone in concluding that homosexual sodomy may have "severe physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual consequences", which is completely bizarre if you ask me, I think what Mr Pryor was trying to say was "I am a homophobe", which requires a lot less time and effort.

He claimed that homosexual sodomy had not been recognised as a right in the United States and was historically recognised as wrong and not a fundamental right.

Pryor currently sits on the US Appeals Court for the Eleventh Circuit, which presides over Alabama, Georgia and Florida. He also opposes abortion even in cases of rape and describes it as "murder".

With this in mind I think Mr Trump needs to really evaluate his choices if he wants LGBT people to believe he means what he says, when he says same sex marriage won't be messed with and that minorities have nothing to fear, when he is even considering making such an appointment. A man with Mr Pryor's clear prejudice has no place in the Supreme Court or any court if you ask me.

If Pryor is appointed I think a skeptical LGBT community will become even more skeptical about Mr Trump's intentions.

Elsewhere in other DJT news the US Director of National Defence James Clapper has resigned and the Trump transition team has reportedly had discussions with Russia in relation to the situation in Syria.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan will be the first foreign leader to meet the President Elect since his win last week. The pair will meet face to face amidst concern on the Japanese side that the bonds of trust between the nations could be at risk.

Leaving Tokyo Mr Abe said he intended to focus the talks on the future of the "Japan-US Alliance", and seek clarification from Mr Trump about comments he made during the campaign over a possible reduction in the numbers of US troops stationed in Japan.

Cautious optimism after Trump's promise to LGBT

After days of fear among minorities including the LGBT community following Donald Trump's election victory, fears were arguably relaxed for some last night when CBS '60 Minutes' aired their interview with President Elect Trump, his first since winning on Tuesday.

Trump was specifically asked about the same sex marriage which went to the Supreme Court last year, and ruled that same sex marriage was a right across the entire United States. The President Elect said he would not touch the law as it has already been decided, saying "it's law, these cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled. And I'm fine with that".

I'm not majorly excited or relieved, but I would say I am in 'cautiously optimistic' mode, I think we need to really stop fearing the worst, if we believe the worst will happen we might as well just give up now, and what would be the point in that? We need to be on our guard and ready to defend our rights as and when (and if) they're threatened by a Trump administration, but we also need to be open to the possibility that maybe things won't be as bad as we first feared.

I have been fair to the President Elect in my postings since the interview aired, I am willing to give him a chance to prove that his Presidency will not be a disaster for LGBT people and the rest of America. I think I have probably  confused a lot of my very left wing liberal supporters on Twitter, but I am going to think and trust what I believe to be the right thing to do and progress forward. After all do we really want our worst fears to come true just to stick it to the Trump supporters? NO. I would rather LGBT and other citizens of America and the World are in a good place after 4 years of Donald Trump.

Returning to the 60 Minutes interview: Trump supporters have jumped on this, saying that he has always been pro-LGBT throughout his campaign, I must have received the following image about 15 times (literally) since the 60 minutes interview aired...

My response to this is that I don't really think Trump holding a rainbow flag UPSIDE DOWN, at one appearance in 18 months really says he's an avid supporter of LGBT rights. 

Essentially all this shows is him doing what it takes to get elected, and he's succeeded in that mission. 

So what did he actually say about LGBT during the campaign? He said he would protect LGBT against foreigners who believed homosexuality was a sin and against terrorist groups like ISIS, who have been killing gay people in the Middle East, as Trump supporters often run to tell me. I AM AWARE GUYS. But that's another issue, communication with Trump supporters ain't easy.

Back to the point - this is all Trump has said on LGBT issues, he's essentially used it to demonise Muslims, used it to incite yet more fear, I highly doubt his motive was to come across as caring about LGBT people. For example foreigners millions of miles away aren't really going to impact LGBT American's, Mr. Trump needs to worry about the homophobes who are actually in the US first, such as his VP Mike Pence who supports conversion therapy.

So this is why I am cautiously optimistic. Words, especially form Trump, are cheap, after a campaign of deception and lies. But there is hope. If he means what he says for a change this is very good news for LGBT. I'm not saying celebrate and be totally chilled about the Trump Administration, but I am saying lets be a bit more optimistic, we need it after the past 6 days!

The road ahead is long but it doesn't need to be the dark, apocalyptic mess that we feared it would be.

President Trump: LGBT fear an attack on rights

Minorities are undoubtably the ones who will suffer from President Trump, when he takes office in January and LGBT activists fear an attack on rights, which have been fought for not just for years, but for decades.

As a starting point just look at Vice President Elect Mike Pence and his attacks on LGBT people, including saying he thought marriage equality would lead to "societal collapse", calling homosexuality a choice. As a Congressman, the Evangelical Christian said he supported gay cure, or "conversion therapy" as it's known.

In recent times, as Senator for Indiana, Pence signed into law an anti-gay "religious freedom" bill, in the State, which essentially gave businesses the right not to serve people, for example same sex couples, and cite their religious beliefs as a defence, in order to avoid prosecution for discrimination. The bill was widely criticised even within the Republican party, with the Republican Mayor of Indianapolis saying it sent the wrong signal of the State and the City.

Vice President Elect Mike Pence

This prospect is quite scary for LGBT in the States and their allies around the World, as Pence will head Donald Trump's transition team and political commentators in the States believe Pence could be one of the most powerful VP's in US history. So I think LGBT in America can be forgiven for feeling alarmed as Trump prepares to take office.

And it's not just Pence! Ken Blackwell, who will lead domestic policy on the Trump transition team has in the past compared homosexuality to arson and kleptomania, calling it a compulsion. Furthermore Ben Carson, who ran for the Republication nomination has compared homosexuality to pedophilia and incest, Carson has been named a vice chairman of the transition team.

Then there's Trump himself who has promised he will rescind all of Obama's executive orders, which include protections for gay and lesbian people working for federal contractors.

Fear, it seems, has really set in since Tuesday with a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign saying the top search on the group's website is "should I hurry and get married?", as LGBT people fear same sex marriage legislation may be rescinded when the Trump administration take over in January.

The Human Rights Campaign on Sunday sent out a message of unity and strength to LGBT people, saying HRC was there for LGBTQ people at this time...

In fairness to the President Elect he did make comments on LGBTQ citizens at the Republican National Convention, when he said he would "protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of foreign ideologies".

But I am extremely skeptical of this pledge. It sounds to me that Trump was using it more as a weapon to incite more hatred for foreigners than anything else. After all LGBT people need protection from oppression and violence from fellow American citizens first and foremost if you ask me.

I think we really need to come together and support each other even more at a time like this. As a British citizen and a gay man, I am so happy I do not live in the US right now, I can't imagine the concern among the LGBT community there.

But we can support each other as one global LGBT community, and at this point this is all just fear, no decisions have been made, no policies enacted, so this is not a time to panic, hope is not lost and young LGBT people especially need to know that, especially those who may be in the process of coming out, who feel even less confident about doing so since the election result. In the end love always wins, that's all we need to remember.

Le Pen hopes for Trump-like win in 2017

Marine Le Pen, France's far-right leader has said she is hoping for a Donald Trump-like win when the country there votes for its new President next year. This brings about a scary prospect that the political madness will continue next year, unless the French people see through the right wing lies, that voters in the UK and US have not been able to see through.

Le Pen is likely to win the first round of French presidential elections in April, but then lose the runoff round in May to whoever her opponent would be. But we all know better when it comes to polls, after they were totally wrong for the EU referendum and the US election. In regional elections last year Front National got over 27% of the vote.

During an interview on the Andrew Marr Show, Le Pen, who leads FN, said that Trump "made possible what had previously been presented as impossible, so it is really the victory of the people against the elite" - I do wonder if Le Pen realises he is a billionaire businessman, about as "elite" as you can get. I always shudder with disbelief when I hear a Trump supporter say he is a man of the people, I'm sure people just see what they WANT to see most of the time.

Just like Trump, Le Pen is very much celebrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called her a role model of "reasoned protectionism".

On immigration Le Pen was clear in saying that under her parties leadership France would not be allowing anymore people into the country, "we are full up" she said. She then went on to say that she did not judge people based on their religion but said the state would "act accordingly" if people refused to "comply with our codes, our values, our French lifestyles".

As it was announced on social media by Rob Burley (Editor of the Marr show) that they would be broadcasting an interview with Le Pen, many reacted with anger at the FN leader being given air time on Remembrance Sunday,  an event which commemorates fallen servicemen and women, including those who fought against Hitler's fascism during World War II.

Critics said it was therefore wrong to give a modern day fascist a platform on a day like today.

But Burley defended the BBC's decision saying that following on from Trump's shock win and the prospect that Le Pen could very much win the French presidency, it was right for the BBC to air an interview with her.

I have to say I am more on the side of the BBC here. Yes the timing isn't great but at the end of the day we have had a political shock this week, and the timing of airing the interview does make sense from a journalistic point of view. As much as I am no fan of Ms Le Pen.

During the interview Le Pen said there was a "hair's breadth" between her party and UKIP, the UK's own ring wing, Euro-skeptic party, a claim that UKIP leadership candidate Suzanne Evans denied was the case, speaking on 'Peston on Sunday', Evans said FN was "nothing like" UKIP.

Meanwhile as the US election fall out continues Nigel Farage, the current leader of UKIP, has become the first British politician to meet Donald Trump since his election. Farage, who is sometimes referred to as "Mr. Brexit" in the US met with President Elect Trump at Trump Tower in New York...

Kellyanne Conway, Trump's spokesperson said the meeting between the pair had been very productive. 

Mr. Farage said that Trump was very supportive of the UK-US relationship and "full of good ideas".

Earlier in the week there was a call from UKIP Members of European Parliament to have Mr. Farage appointed as Ambassador to the United States, considering his ties with the President Elect. During the campaign Mr. Farage appeared at a number of rallies to endorse Trump for the Presidency.

Later on CBS '60 Minutes' will broadcast the first interview with Donald Trump since his election on Tuesday.

Trump supporters outraged by protests

Image credit: CNN

Protests have continued in the United States following Donald Trump's victory on Tuesday over Hillary Clinton in the US Presidential election. This has sparked yet more debate online and abusive back and fourths between Trump supporters and Hillary supporters.

Trump supporters are quite ironically criticising some of the more violent protests against Trump's election. Considering the divisive and hateful campaign that Mr Trump ran I find it absolutely laughable that Trump supporters would be so repulsed by vandalism and hateful speech directed towards the President Elect.

In case, like the Trump Train you've got a short memory and have forgotten all of his hatred, here is a compilation of SOME of the occasions Trump has incited violence, this includes the time he said he would pay the legal fees if someone assaulted a Hillary supporter:


This is a small snapshot of the hateful campaign that Trump ran. Remember the time he said that "maybe the second amendment people" could do something about Hillary, insinuating that someone should maybe, I don't know, shoot her (very diplomatic).

Don't get me wrong Trump's behaviour does not call for some of the violent clashes we have seen in recent days, I am a strong believer in peaceful protest, I just find it quite fresh that Donald Trump supporters are so outraged considering the rhetoric of the past 18 months. It's just unbelievable, violent protests can't be tolerated but voting for an intolerant, racist bigot to settle down in the White House is totally fine.

I have no doubt the protests will continue right up to and on Inauguration Day on January 20, and for the full 4 years of the Trump Presidency (if he lasts that long) - most of my Twitter followers don't think he will last 4 years, with 45% thinking he will get impeached...

During one of my many run in's with Trump supporters on Twitter, I actually made the point that the protests could continue for 4 years. The Trump supporter wasn't too pleased with this, saying that it was ridiculous and wrong. How can it be wrong? We live in a Democracy, and though Mr. Trump I'm sure would prefer some sort of North Korean inspired landscape, that is not the case and if people want to protest Trump for 4 years they bloody well can.

I just hope that these protests take the form of peaceful action, which has been mainly the case since Tuesday, but of course it is the violence that gets the media coverage, as a journalist I'm afraid its just a fact of the media that "Peaceful protest occurs" just isn't a strong headline and won't get the prominence of reporting that the violence does (but that's a whole other debate).

Meanwhile President Elect Trump has given his first interview following the shock election result to CBS's 60 Minutes, which will air tomorrow. In the interview it has already been revealed that in the interview Trump says he will keep parts of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), despite calling it one of the worst parts of Obama's Presidency during the campaign, the Trump Train WILL NOT be impressed.

President Trump: The transition team

President Elect Donald Trump essentially used his Apprentice "you're fired!" line today, to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a key ally to Mr Trump during the election campaign. Many thought Christie would be key to Trump's transition team but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Many have linked the decision to "BridgeGate", which saw two of Christie's former aides convicted on Friday (days before the election) of causing massive traffic jams, as a form of political revenge near the country's busiest bridge. The plot was centred around a Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, who refused to endorse Christie when he ran for re-election in 2013.

Testimony during the seven week case contradicted Christie's statements about just how much he knew about the four days of gridlock, caused at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee in September 2013.

(Update November 11, 8:40pm [GMT] - Donald Trump has said in a statement that Chris Christie will serve as one of the tradition teams Vice-Chairmen)

Instead of Christie, Donald Trump has today said his Vice President Elect running mate and 50th Governor of Indiana Mike Pence would lead the Trump Administrations transition team as it prepares for inauguration day on January 20 2017.

Earlier today Pence made his first phone call overseas to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in which he said they discussed "America's long standing and close relationship with the UK", Boris Johnson also tweeted to say they had discussed the importance of the "special relationship".

Johnson has basically followed on from PM Theresa May's niceties, very different to last year when Mr Johnson called Mr Trump "out of his mind" for his plans to bar all Muslims from entering the United States.

So the Trump transition team is as follows:

• Congressman Lou Barletta
• Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn
• Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
• Congressman Chris Collins
• Jared Kushner (husband of First Daughter Ivanka)
• Congressman Tom Marino
• Rebekah Mercer
• Steven Mnuchin
• Congressman Devin Nunes
• Anthony Scaramucci
• Peter Thiel
• Donald Trump Jr
• Eric Trump
• Ivanka Trump
• RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
• Stephen K. Bannon
• Kallyanne Conway (Trump's campaign manager)

In a statement Trump said the team would build on the initial work done by Chris Christie and help prepare a transformative government ready to lead from day one.

Trump added: "The mission of our team will be clear: put together the most highly qualified group of successful leaders who will be able to implement our change agenda in Washington. Together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding this nation".

The President Elect's comments on assembling a qualified group is quite interesting. One of the main arguments against Trump being President (aside from the racism and sexism of course), is the fact he is painfully inexperienced, so its clear he is trying to put those fears to rest.

In my opinion it won't! As unrest continues on the streets of the United States in protest of Trump's election.

Personally, I think its time to just accept it. Instead the work should be on the part of the Democratic party and those who support it, at working towards holding the Trump administration to account and ensuring he is defeated if he runs for re-election in four years.

President Elect Trump meets President Obama

Images most of us thought we would never see, Donald Trump meeting President Barack Obama in the Oval Office as President Elect of the United States. The reality of what America decided on Tuesday has now fully set in.

The meeting of the pair in the White House is actually the first time the pair have met. Both have been less than kind in the past, with Obama going as far as to say Donald Trump was "unfit to be President".

Trump has even went as far as to question whether Obama was an American citizen in the past, asking him repeatedly to produce his birth certificate, claims Trump went back on in a statement a few months ago.

In a press photo call after the meeting the mood was extremely positive from both of the men, Trump even said that Obama had achieved some "wonderful things" in office. Donald Trump has certainly changed since election night, we are seeing a new man compared to the one we have witnessed on the campaign trail for the past 18 months.

Out of all the tweets I have seen about the meeting, this one from Sky News journalist Kay Burley has got to be my favourite:

Though the meeting was positive it has been pointed out that usually there is a photograph with the President, President elect and their partners on their first meeting. That did not happen in this case. So not all friendly, if that is anything deliberate on the part of Trump or Obama.

Meanwhile President Elect Trump has also been to the Capitol Building in Washington to meet House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was the most senior elected Republican until Trump's election as President.

I'm going to miss Obama, but watch out for an Obama in 2020, I stand by it, Michelle should run against Trump in four years time.

President Trump: Twitter blackout

As the election aftermath continues, American citizens refusing to accept that their new President Elect is Donald J. Trump, have decided to take visible action on social networking website Twitter.

Users have decided to change their profile pictures, cover photo and background to black.

They've been using the hash tag #TwitterBlackout and some supporters of Hillary Clinton have adopted the hash tag #ImStillWithHer.

And arguably why should they accept the result? After all the latest count of the votes (yes some votes are still being counted) show that Clinton may have got over 1.5 million MORE votes than Donald Trump. But with how the American electoral college system works, the candidate who gets more in the electoral college wins the White House.

The idea is that protesters can band together in unity and show that they will not accept Donald Trump as President. Civil unrest rocked the streets of the United States last night, with thousands protesting the new President Elect, the hash tag #NotMyPresident soon started trending as well.

It seems that minorities in particular are panicked at the prospect of the Trump administration.

Meanwhile Donald Trump himself is meeting with outgoing President Obama at the White House to discuss the transition of power.

From a UK perspective British Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken to Trump on the phone, in which he said he wanted her to visit the US "as soon as possible".

And...UKIP MEP's have said Nigel Farage should become the UK's ambassador to the United States (yes really), see their open letter below...

I think at this point many of us can be excused for thinking the World has gone absolutely mad.

Election 2016: The aftermath begins

Image Credit: Los Angeles Times

It's little over 24 hours since Donald Trump was declared the winner of the Presidential Election and that he would become the 45th POTUS, an outcome which nobody, including many of Trump's own supporters didn't expect. Shock was apparently visible across the political establishment, with some journalists in Westminster saying many MP's simply could not find the words, the shock was so raw in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Last night anti-Trump demonstrations took place across the United States, with some burning flags and and saying they would refuse to accept the result. As much as the election of Donald has left a bad taste in my mouth, I am not of the view that the result should not be accepted. At the end of the day, as painful as it may be he has been democratically elected by the American people. In my view those supporters have dug their own grave and should therefore lie in it. Trump will be the maker of his own downfall over the next 4 years.

In Manhattan thousands of protesters marched towards Trump Tower, while in Chicago police had to setup blockades in order to stop 1,800 protestors from reaching the front of the Trump International Hotel. Violent unrest was reported in Oakland in Florida, a state responsible for giving Mr Trump 29 electoral votes, with 6,000 protestors smashing the front of shops there.

To the West of the United States, in California which gave all 55 of its electoral votes to Hillary Clinton, protestors defended on downtown Los Angeles. the 101 Freeway in L.A. was closed as a result and protestors there decided to burn an effigy of Donald Trump's head.

And unsurprisingly social media exploded with anti-Trump sentiment and the hash tag #NotMyPresident soon started to trend in the United States...

The language of the day (November 9th) had been towards unity, with Trump himself saying he would be "President for all Americans", his opponent Hillary Clinton added to the sentiment of unity, saying she wished President Elect Trump the best of luck and that he deserved an "open mind" from the American people.

All of this talk of unity was all well and good but these protests hardly come as a surprise, after an 18 month divisive campaign full of disarray, disunity and in some cases putting sections of society against one another, all of that doesn't just go away because the election has been decided.

Interesting a lot of those pledges that Donald Trump made may not actually happen, despite the fact he has been elected. One of his key divisive "policies" was his plan to stop all Muslims from entering the United States, he made the pledge after the San Bernardino, California shooting in December last year, in which 14 people were killed. That pledge was on the Trump website on November 8th, then it was removed on November 9th.

I think we are doing to see a very different approach from President Trump, compared to Trump on the campaign trail. He has used hatred and division to get elected and I personally think bears responsibility for the violence being seen across America. This is the America that the 2016 campaign has created. Yes, those divisions have always been there, but the campaign has brought those divisions out in the ugliest of ways.

Personally, I think this is just be the beginning of the protests, which will continue on up until inauguration day in January, and then continue throughout the Trump administration.

President Elect Trump is expected to meet outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama later today. Obama will discuss the transition of power with Trump, after being the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the last 8 years. Personally, and this is a prediction, I think the Donald should potentially watch out for a Michelle Obama White House bid in 2020.

We have entered the age of a Donald Trump Presidency and I think it's safe to say the aftermath has only just begun.

Election 2016: Clinton concedes

Hillary Clinton has officially given her concession speech, speaking to supporters in New York, around 8 or so hours after it was announced that Donald Trump would be the 45th President of the United States.

Tim Kaine, defeated Vice Presidential nominee, took to the stage first and appeared visibly emotional as he began to address the crowd, starting by saying that he and his wife were very proud of Hillary, for her past achievements in office and for her 2016 campaign.

Clinton took to the stage to concede saying that she hoped Donald Trump's Presidency is a success, adding that she hopes he will be a President for ALL Americans, focussing strongly on her campaign message that America is "stronger together".

The fact that the United States has not yet had a female President also featured as part of the speech, but Clinton did not despair over the fact saying "we still have not shattered that glass ceiling, but someday, someone will", suggesting it won't be her but one day the US will have a woman in charge.

Clinton stayed on her message to women voters, urging young girls to pursue their dreams, no matter what, and Clinton had the following message to her female supporters "nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion".

It was a speech delivered with clear devastation on the part of Clinton, it was short and sweet and the impact of a long, hard fought campaign was clearly visible. Clinton lost out on being the Democratic nominee in 2008, when she was defeated by Obama, and now as candidate has been defeated by the GOP.

So that really punctuates this race for the White House. Trump has won and made his acceptance speech, Clinton has lost and conceded. Many do believe that will be it for Clinton's political career, which has spanned decades from First Lady to Secretary of State and her speech did seem final from the 69 year-old. So a female President I'm sure, someday will take office, but that person won't be Hillary Rodham Clinton.

President Trump: Social Media users react

After a long, long night of being strapped to my laptop and other devices I have had a nap and am feeling refreshed. I was hoping that I would wake up and discover that President Trump was just some horrible nightmare, but to my horror, no, it happened, Donald J Trump will be the 45th President of the United States, and I somehow have to just accept it.

This blog post is going to be a bit more light hearted though! Just like after the Brexit vote, I think all of us more left wing, forward thinking people need a bit of cheering up. But I will be posting a more serious, reflection on the nights events in the coming hours, but for the purposes of this post I will look at how social media has reacted to President Elect Trump.

Here are my top five responses...

1, Kevin! Yes that's right Donald Trump was in 'Home Alone 2' and he did more for Kevin than he'll do for the United States.

2, Meanwhile some decided to have their own go at creating a classic Donald Trump, fascist red cap.

3, Meanwhile Democrat Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton in the race to become the Democrat candidate, thought it was the perfect time to cash in. Mr Money in the Bank! (The WWE fans will get it).

4, Others turned to The Simpsons, and how they Predicted a Trump Presidency, showing Lisa Simpson taking over after 4 years of the Donald. The Simpsons always seem to predict these things, more investigation into Matt Groening is required I feel (what else does he know?).

5, Any my personal favourite reaction on social media was from Sebastian from Portland, Oregon, a state which gave all seven of its electoral college votes to Hillary Clinton. Sebastian is LGBT and had an interesting offer for me...

Desperate times in the United States!

For more commentary on the Election follow me on Twitter - @SamWiseSW

Election Night: Donald Trump to be POTUS

Well it's official. There can be no further argument or hope of a different result. Donald J Trump will be the 45th President of the United States.

I thought it was going to be days of rolling news on who would be the next President, after the Clinton campaign said they would be making no further statements until tomorrow (or today), whatever! But that soon changed...

The Associated Press were the first to declare around 7:35am (GMT), after a split vote in Maine and then Trump took the 10 electoral college votes in Wisconsin, added to a win in Pennsylvania, it took him over the 270 votes needed to win.

Networks were cautious about following AP's example and declaring, but news broke that Hillary Clinton had conceded to Trump on the phone around 7:43am (GMT). This caused the major networks in the United States, and Sky News and the BBC in the UK all to declare that Donald Trump would be POTUS 45.

Mike Pence the Vice President Elect took to the stage at the Trump rally in New York say: "Donald Trump's vision and leadership will make America great again". Pence introduced Trump to the stage and personally I thought it was a different man. Trump said he had received a call from Hillary Clinton, then proceeded to say that everyone owed her a debt of gratitude for her service to the United States. I'm guessing that means he's not putting her in jail anymore?

Trump's acceptance speech was confusing to say the least. I am certain it is a different guy. This is not the Donald Trump from the most ugly, divisive election campaign in US history. After praising Clinton, Trump went on to say he would seek to find common ground with other nations, not conflict. Then he continued to say he would be President for ALL Americans and heal the divides in American society.

With the NEW Donald, you've got to wonder if the wall will be built and if Muslims will be barred from entering the United States, but I'm sure Trump will just conveniently forget that he made those pledges, just as he "forgot" that he'd supported the Iraq War.

Either way the World has entered a time of uncertainty with Donald Trump set to take office in January.

Election Night: A dark night for America

So...this was not the post I was expecting to be writing at nearly 6am in the morning after being up all night watching the US Presidential Election, but here we are! It looks like Donald J. Trump will be the President Elect and become the 45th President of the United States.

As I write this Hillary has extremely slim chances of winning with talk of a tie possible, but with a Trump victory 95% likely, I think it is safe to say that this is over.

I really fear for America, especially minority citizens, such as black people, immigrants, women and the LGBT community. Already there have been reports that the Canadian immigration website has crashed with people looking at how to cross the boarder. I don't blame those people! If I was a US citizen I think I would be doing the same.

Lets just step back and assess the person who will probably be the President:

• He has been endorsed by the KKK and accepted it.
• He has been abusive towards women, called them pigs and got knows what else.
• He has a proven track record of being detrimental towards women.
• He brands all Muslims as terrorists and wants them banned from entering the United States.
• He brands Mexicans rapists and drug dealers and wants to build a wall between the two countries.
• He has openly mocked disabled people.
• He has incited violence at his rallies and even suggested Hillary Clinton should be shot.
• He has openly admitted to avoiding paying federal income tax and won't publish his tax returns.

YET, after all of that, Donald J. Trump will still become the next US President. To me. As a level headed, reasonable human being is absolutely insane, it baffles me to no end that America, as a country, have voted for this man. Hillary is not perfect but when you weigh up her ability to be President and his there is no contest.

This has turned into a rant but I just honestly can't believe that this has happened. Brexit shocked me when 52% voted Leave but this is something else. A part of me wants to switch off from this and just say "you deserve what you get America" but we have to be there in solidarity for those who didn't vote for this, who will ultimately be the ones who will suffer as a result.

Tonight could have been such a different night, America could have shown itself as an outward looking country, finally with a female leader, but instead they opted for isolation and business as usual. Trump is not a revolution. He is not a man of the people, he's a greedy businessman, from the World of reality TV. His supporters will eventually wake up but by then it will all be too late.

Maybe Clinton will still win? Maybe it will be a tie? I will keep hanging out to that little bit of hope, but one things for sure: I'm not getting any sleep until I know the outcome.

Election Night: Florida

Florida is an absolutely crucial state and the early indicates are in as to how the state has voted in this election. You will remember the controversy over Florida in 2000 when George W. Bush faced Al Gore for the Presidency and the subsequent legal challenges and claims of rigging.

Around 12:15am (GMT) I started seeing exit polling data showing 2% of the vote from Florida showing Trump on 59% of the vote with Clinton somehow on 30%. This briefly terrified me until I saw data from 10% of the vote count with Clinton on 48.3% and Trump on 47.2%.

As the count continued just before 1am UK time Hillary was ahead by 2.7% in the state with 71% of the vote counted. This certainly helped ease my concerns of a Trump victory and the Clinton campaign commented to say they were feeling easier about the state.

But the drama of the state continued as 89% of the vote was counted Trump was ahead by just TWENTY EIGHT (28) votes.

The result:

Ultimately Donald Trump has taken this crucial state according to Fox News, though they're the only news outlet who're declaring that.

Pair that with North Carolina which has also gone for Trump and many are preparing for Donald to be the next President of the United States.

However at of 4:10am (GMT) Clinton had won the following states putting her ahead in the electoral college: Oregon, Hawaii, Washington, California.

Meanwhile Trump has also won the state of Idaho. It's looking like Trump's night but Democrats maintain that Clinton could still pull it off.

For up to the minute comment and news on the election results follow me on Twitter @SamWiseSW

Election Night: Fears of a Trump Presidency

The night is drawing on as we hit 3:30am UK time and a President Elect Donald. J Trump is looking more and more likely by the minute. Hopefully I will look at this post in a few hours time and feel complete relief but I am not getting my hopes up.

ABC news and CBS have now both called the swing State of Ohio for Donald Trump, the state has predicted the correct result in 28 out of 30 contests. It's not a dead certainty especially due to the unpredictable nature of this election, but it is not looking good for the Clinton campaign.

Meanwhile Florida is a complete nightmare, with the race way too close to call still but looking more likely for Donald Trump at this moment in time.

Latest Trump wins:
Arkansas, Ohio, Louisiana.

Latest Clinton wins:
Virginia, Colorado.

Electoral college as of 3:35am (GMT):
Clinton: 131
Trump: 169

All eyes are still on Nevada, Minnesota North Carolina, Michigan, vital states which are still too close to call.

But the markets are rattled at the thought of Donald Trump hitting the magical 270 figure. The Mexican Peso have fallen to its lowest ever level against the dollar, dropping by 10% in value.

Election Night: Too close to call

At 2am (GMT) more polls in the United States closed and projected results released which put Donald Trump ahead with 130 electoral college votes, to Hillary Clinton's 104 votes.

Latest wins for Trump:
North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Latest wins for Clinton:
New York and Connecticut.

However the picture is still one of an extremely close election with key states 'too close to call' with neither candidate appearing to be the outright winner. Florida is looking like a nightmare, with Trump at one stage holding a lead of just 28 votes to Clinton. Most political commentators predict that the state will have to do a recount, so nothing concrete is expected from Florida anytime soon.

This has got to be my favourite Tweet re: Florida...

Too close to call States:
Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina and Michigan.

All in all, I think it's going to be a long, late night.

Follow me on Twitter for up to the minute results and comment: @SamWiseSW 

Election Night: Results rush!

At 1am (GMT) results from the election came in quick and fast with many results being declared which resulted in the following electoral college numbers:

Clinton: 68
Trump: 57

An interesting points and theme which appears to be emerging is that third party candidates such as Libertarians and the Greens may have done the best they've done since 2000. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the unpopularity of the two candidates.

Exit poll data even showed that 59% of voters said they found Hillary Clinton untrustworthy and 65% saying they found Donald Trump untrustworthy, shocking considering one of these two people will be the 45th President of the United States.

States Clinton has won:
New Jersey, Vermont, Illinois, Rhode Island, Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, Illinois, District of Columbia and Massachusetts.

States Trump has won:
Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

States such as Ohio, Florida and North Carolina are all too close to call.

Information accurate at time of publication.

Election Night: NC and OH suggest a tight race

It's 12:35am (GMT) and exit poll data is showing a very tight race in some key states.

North Carolina is showing as too close to call for both candidates:
Clinton: 48%
Trump: 47%

Meanwhile the same picture is emerging in Ohio, a state which has predicted the result of the election 28 out of 30 times:
Clinton: 47%
Trump: 48%

If Trump wins Ohio it will undoubtably be seen as a promising indication for a Donald Trump victory. But there is still a long way to go with many electoral college votes needed for victory.

But if those two exit poll results are anything to go by we are in for a long night, it is so close between the two candidates.

Follow my Twitter for up to the minute updates @SamWiseSW

Election Night: The first results are in

The first polls in the United States have closed and we are getting close to some actual results. The polling is over and it's time to get down to the substance of what America has decided.

Divides across the country have been really punctuated already this evening, with two polling stations placed on lockdown in Azusa, California after a shooting, which early reports say has resulted in five people being injured. There are also unconfirmed reports that a Trump supporter pulled a gun on someone at a Florida polling station, though this is yet to be confirmed.

These violent incidents just seem to show those ugly divides in America and how divisive this election has been and thought these incidents aren't Donald Trump's fault his damaging rhetoric hasn't exactly helped matters, he has pit Americans against Americans for the past 18 months, violent incidents like this are sadly expected.

Georgia

Early results from Georgia exit poll put Trump on 48% and Clinton on 46%.

Other data from the exit poll projected that Clinton had achieved 90% of the black vote whilst getting 62% of the young vote, with Trump getting just 29% of the young vote.

Other states

Donald Trump projected to win Indiana and Kentucky (perhaps unsurprisingly).

Hillary Clinton has Vermont, Bernie Sanders, her former Democratic opponents home state.

Soon we should be hearing results from Florida and Virginia, then other crucial states such as Ohio and North Carolina.

The night is young so watch this space!