After His Astounding Victory, President-Elect Trump Says "Now It's Time for America to Bind the Wounds of Division"

Gary Lane & Abigail Robertson : Nov 9, 2016
CBN News

"I come to this moment deeply humbled, grateful to God for His amazing grace. And I'm mostly grateful to our president-elect whose leadership and vision will make American great again." -Mike Pence, Vice-President Elect

(Washington, DC)—[CBN News] He's now President-elect Donald Trump. (Screengrab via ABC News)

The Republican presidential candidate shocked the world Tuesday and pulled off an astounding victory to become the next president of the United States.

As the returns came in Tuesday evening, some of the battleground states were just too close to call.

But when Pennsylvania finally went for Trump, it was over. The Republican had secured more than the 270 electoral votes needed to become the 45th president of the United States.

"Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division—we have to get together," Trump told his supporters gathered at the mid-town Hilton hotel in New York City.

"To all Republicans and Democrats and Independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people," he said.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election in a private phone call to Trump; however, she was not expected to make an actual concession speech until later Wednesday.

Clinton and the Democrats outspent Trump by nearly two-to-one, yet he still he won, taking both the electoral and popular votes, and in the process turning the American political map into a sea of Republican red.

The final vote counts have yet to come in from all the states, but by early Wednesday morning, Trump had taken 274 electoral votes—four more than needed to win the White House.

And as CBN's Abigail Robertson told us from New York—that led to a victory celebration at the Trump headquarters. She said a tense first hour quickly turned to nervous excitement as Trump's supporters began to realize he might just win.

People stuck it out to the wee hours of the morning at the Trump Victory Party to witness the final results of this historic election. (Screengrab via CBN News)

Even those who were on the Trump train from the very beginning were surprised by the victory.

The campaign is crediting evangelical support for playing a key role in his win. 

"We had some outside evangelical groups report to us that they knocked on millions of doors. I think they got really excited. It took this formerly pro-choice billionaire man from Manhattan to really give the most impassioned defense of life I've ever heard from a Republican presidential candidate," said Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. "And it really helped many evangelicals and Catholics come home."

A member of the border patrol told Robertson he hopes this Trump presidency will mean he's able to do his job again. Jerry Falwell, Jr., says he's ready to see Trump defend religious liberty, and many others are just excited for Trump to make America great again. 

So, what led to Trump's stunning victory? 

For one thing, it became clear that after nearly eight years of Barack Obama, millions of Americans wanted change. 

"Ours was not a campaign, but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hard working men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their families," Trump said Tuesday night.

Trump promised to bring back jobs to America and it was his appeal to voters who used to be known as Reagan Democrats—the blue-collar workers in rustbelt states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan who helped make the difference. 

Trump also received 81 percent of the evangelical vote, which was about 3 percent more than Republican Mitt Romney received in 2012.

Trump's evangelical running mate, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, gave credit where credit was due.

"I come to this moment deeply humbled, grateful to God for His amazing grace," Pence said. "And I'm mostly grateful to our president-elect whose leadership and vision will make American great again."