US Election 2020: Joe Biden Wins the Presidency

Joe Biden has won the race to become the 46th president of the United States, defeating Donald Trump following a cliff-hanger vote count after Tuesday's election.

After a nail-biting race, the Democratic candidate took an unbeatable lead in Pennsylvania - taking its 20 Electoral College votes and past the 270 electoral college vote threshold needed to clinch the White House.

In a written statement after networks called the race, Biden, who is expected to address the American people later Saturday, said he was "honored and humbled" by the trust the American people have placed in him. "In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America," Biden said. "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation."

Biden, who turns 78 at the end of this month, will become the oldest president when he is inaugurated in January in the midst of the worst public health emergency in 100 years, the deepest economic slump since the 1930s and a national reckoning on racism and police brutality that is still unresolved.

It makes Donald Trump, the first one-term president since 1992, when George Bush failed to clinch four more years.In a written statement released by his campaign, Donald Trump refused to concede the election and accused his opponent of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner".

With Joe Biden's victory, he brings with him the first woman vice-president Kamala Harris, whose multi-ethnic heritage carries with it numerous other firsts. Mr Biden can now begin the arduous task of planning the transition to his new administration. He will have just under three months to assemble a cabinet, determine policy priorities and prepare to govern a nation facing numerous crises and sharply divided along partisan lines.

Joe Biden has been dreaming of the White House for most of his 50 years in the public arena. With this prize of a lifetime, however, come the challenges of a lifetime.