Jubilance In The Streets: America Erupts In Celebration After Trump’s Loss

It started with vague honks in the streets — a not uncommon staple of reality in some of America's largest cities. Then there were the shouts, cheers, cowbells, whistles and a lot more honking. Chants of “this is what democracy looks like!” Pots clanking, people hollering, music blaring.
A woman sprays prosecco onto the crowd as people celebrate on Black Lives Matter plaza across from the White House in Washington, DC on November 7, 2020, after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidenti... A woman sprays prosecco onto the crowd as people celebrate on Black Lives Matter plaza across from the White House in Washington, DC on November 7, 2020, after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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It’s finally over. President Donald Trump is done. Finished. Out. Expired. Old news.

And after four years of enduring the ceaseless neglect, corruption, and cruelty of a self-obsessed real estate developer with little interest in improving people’s lives, America is ready to pop bottles.

It started with vague honks in the streets — a not uncommon staple of reality in some of America’s largest cities.

Then there were the shouts, cheers, cowbells, whistles and a lot more honking. Chants of “this is what democracy looks like!” Pots clanking, people hollering, music blaring. Several members  of the TPM staff who weren’t online late Saturday morning when the news broke were alerted to Vice President Joe Biden’s win by the jubilance and dancing and shouting we heard from the streets.

Photo by Kate Riga. The area around the White House was clogged with people young and old, peppered with many a Biden-Harris supporting dogs in the hours after Biden won the election. Various portable speakers blasted music from backpacks and pockets, and cheers erupted every few minutes. People clutched hastily-made signs proclaiming “clean out the White House” and “you’re fired!”

The scene outside the White House was triumphantly chaotic, clogged with people young and old, peppered with many Biden-Harris supporting dogs. There were portable speakers blasting music from backpacks and pockets. Cheers erupted every few minutes and those gathered clutched hastily-made signs proclaiming “clean out the White House” and “you’re fired!”

In Brooklyn and Manhattan the scene was similar, with massive celebrations in Washington Square Park and Times Square, all bookended by spontaneous dancing and celebrations in blue neighborhoods across all four boroughs. One roisterer sporting an American flag told TPM’s Matt Shuham that Biden’s win, but, moreso, Trump’s loss, felt like a “reset” for decency in America.

The celebration spilled out into the streets across the country — a sigh of relief from sea to shining sea.

Here’s what we’re seeing right now in the cities, including the ones Trump relentlessly bashed as dilapidated, crime-infested hellholes as part of his charade as a “law and order” president:

Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

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