ATLANTA — On Saturday morning, news outlets, including the Associated Press, projected that Democratic candidate Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris would defeat President Donald Trump to win the 2020 presidential election.
The news quickly lit up the airwaves and social media, and spontaneous celebrations and rallies - for both candidates - broke out across the city. Similar celebrations also sprung up in cities across the nation.
In Midtown, cheering and clangs from pots and pans being hit - similar to the nightly rounds of applause for frontline essential workers early on in the pandemic - echoed up from apartment buildings.
And at Atlanta's well-known rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue - the heart of Midtown - people flooded into the streets to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters gathered at the Georgia State Capitol to host their own rally in support of the President, waving Trump-Pence flags and signs. A Trump 2020 bus even drove through, trailed by Biden-Harris supporters.
Biden, who was already leading in the race for the 270 electoral college votes, was pushed over the finish line after leads in Pennsylvania and Nevada continued to grown. Biden was ultimately projected to win both states, effectively ending President Trump's quest for re-election. The President, however, has said he has no plans to concede and threatened to take unspecified legal action in the coming days.
