The US erupts in 'wild' scenes as Joe Biden wins White House

Cities in the US have erupted following the news Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the country.

Jubilant scenes have played out in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and other cities after the state of Pennsylvania, and therefore the White House, was declared for the Democratic challenger overnight.

Just blocks from the White House, in the area now named Black Lives Matter plaza, hundreds of people danced and celebrated while music blasted.

“The mood is one of celebration and great joy,” said the ABC’s Michael Rowland who was on the ground in DC.

“This is a heavily Democratic town, and I tell you what, within seconds of the networks calling the election for Joe Biden ... People started yelling in joy. Car horns started blaring. There were fireworks in the street where I was, and people started coming en masse here to the White House,” he said.

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“Looking further up the street, people as far as the eye can see coming to mark Joe Biden's election as President-elect.”

Biden supporters danced to the Village People’s YMCA – a song which was featured heavily at Donald Trump rallies.

People handed out champagne to revellers as a giant rat with the likeness of Donald Trump made its way through the crowd.

Huge crowds celebrated on Saturday (local time) outside a security fence erected to surround the White House as the sound of booming fireworks was heard in the distance.

"I was on the bus and I jumped off the bus to come right down here to the White House," Washington resident Donna Thomas told Reuters.

"It is something to celebrate. We have been waiting so long."

She was far from the only one, with a couple who just tied the knot also rushing to join the street party.

In nearby Dupont Circle, several hundred people formed a parade, playing music, singing and dancing and marched towards the White House to the sound of honking horns and clanging cowbells.

Meanwhile loud cheers erupted in the halls of a nearby hotel where Biden aides have been staying.

‘The nightmare is over!’

At Chicago O'Hare airport a female cleaner working in the women's restroom took a FaceTime call from her daughter and they cheered and exclaimed in Spanish as she danced around the cleaning cart, a Reuters journalist reported.

In Atlanta, shouts, cheers and fireworks sounded in the Democratic stronghold of East Atlanta Village as word spread that Donald Trump would be a one-term president – the first in 28 years.

In New York, massive crowds took to the streets in celebration as a sea of joyous Biden supporters were seen streaming down 7th avenue in New York, and packing into Times Square.

In the borough of Brooklyn, cars honked and people pumped their fists and cheered on the street.

“The nightmare is over,” said 45-year-old local Andrew Ravin.

Neighbour Kenneth Henry, 51, said, people like him could “breathe again”.

With motorists hoking their horns across the city, the atmosphere was described online as “wild”.

One young woman was snapped crying in her car.

“I’ve lived in NYC my whole life and I’ve never seen anything like this,” tweeted New Yorker and journalist Jessica Valenti.

In Pennsylvania, the state which was the tipping point in the way the count played out, throngs of locals took to the streets with excitement.

‘Stop the Steal’ protesters face-off with revellers

In the state capital of Harrisburg about 100 pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" protesters demonstrated in front of the state Capitol building. They faced off against about the same number of Biden supporters.

But in the cities like Philadelphia, the excitement and festival-like atmosphere was very much on display with hundreds of voters celebrating and singing Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘Living on a Prayer’ while a giant eagle was paraded through the streets.

Trump, who has made repeated claims of electoral fraud without providing evidence, immediately accused Biden of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner".

"This election is far from over," he said in a statement.

But while joyous scenes have played out across the country, it’s clear that some Trump's supporters are not ready to stand down either.

with Reuters

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