Clinton says US owes Trump ‘chance to lead’
WASHINGTON — A day after Donald Trump, against all odds, won election as America’s 45th president, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday lamented that the nation proved to be “more divided than we thought” but told supporters: “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.”
Standing before a crowd of crestfallen campaign aides and backers, Clinton said, “This is painful, and it will be for a long time.”
Claiming victory early Wednesday in New York, Trump urged Americans to “come together as one united people.”
Clinton, hoping to become the first woman to be elected president, conceded defeat in a telephone call to Trump.
Most of the outstanding votes appeared to be in Democratic-leaning states, with the biggest chunk in California, a state Clinton overwhelmingly won.
Summoning her most magnanimous tone after a bitter race, Clinton said of the man whose victory she declared would be a danger to America and the world: “I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans.”
Cameras zoomed in on the exhausted and miserable faces of several of her closest aides, some dressed in hoodies or other casual clothing.
Global stock markets and U.S. stock futures plunged early Wednesday, but later recovered.
“Everybody is sad when their side loses an election,” said Obama, who risks seeing much of his legacy reversed in a Trump administration.
Trump, who spent much of the campaign urging supporters on as they chanted “lock her up,” said the nation owed Clinton “a major debt of gratitude” for her years of public service.
[...] her troubles flared anew late in the race, when the FBI reviewed new emails from her tenure at the State Department.
Just two days before election day, the bureau’s director said nothing in the material warranted criminal charges.
Highlights of Hillary Clinton’s concession speech
Clinton said she hoped that her Republican opponent would be “a successful president for all Americans,” and that she respected and cherished the peaceful transition of power.