Joe Biden beats Trump, wins U.S. presidential election

Former U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, has been elected the 46th president of the United States of America.

Mr Biden, 78, won the keen-fought election by scoring 273 electoral college votes against incumbent President Donald Trump’s 214.

An hour earlier, Mr Trump had tweeted “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”

Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s running mate, made history as the first woman to be elected U.S. vice president.

The result of the election was announced Saturday after several tense days of vote-counting in many battlegrounds. Before the election day on Tuesday, about 100 million votes had been cast.

Mr Biden got the victory in his third attempt at the presidency.

In a tweet after the result was announced, Mr Biden wrote: “America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.

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The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not.

I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”

Mrs Harris, a senator, tweeted: “This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”