Election 2024 live: Trump allies tussle for cabinet jobs as Harris concedes, telling voters to ‘never give up’

Actor Bradley Whitford, best known for The West Wing and The Handmaid’s Tale, wants Democrats to avoid falling into “despair” after Trump’s second victory, he told The Independent in an exclusive interview.

Whitford, known for his Emmy-winning West Wing performance as the firebrand political strategist Josh Lyman, said he was surprised by Trump’s decisive win.

The 65-year-old has long been a Democratic ally, and most recently spoke at a Harris rally in Wisconsin on October 22.

“I absolutely thought we were going to win,” Whitford told The Independent outside the White House on Wednesday afternoon, less than 12 hours after Trump secured his second term.

“I thought it was going to be closer,” he added.

“But whenever any of my friends asked me, I would end it with, ‘You can never underestimate how you know, racist and sexist this country is.’”

Katie Hawkinson has more.

While Trump and Harris battled it out for the presidency, a war was being fought in the shadows among the networks trying to draw in viewers to their election coverage.

Millions of Americans were glued to their TV sets on Tuesday night, watching the results roll in, with one news channel trouncing its competitors in the ratings: Fox News.

Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum led the network’s primetime election coverage on Democracy 2024, garnering an average of 10.3 million viewers between 8pm and 11pm ET on Tuesday evening, according to Nielsen data.

James Liddell has more.

Project 2025 was not the only concern on Steve Bannon’s mind yesterday.

He also floated the idea that Marjorie Taylor Greene should be appointed to the president-elect’s new administration as the head of Homeland Security.

Fellow Trump ally Greene, who was re-elected to congress for the third time on Tuesday, spoke to Bannon following the sweeping Republican victory.

Bannon noted that the Georgia firebrand had “been with us from the beginning,” adding “Congressman Greene, you’ve done so much work. You’re such a fighter. Now, is there any truth to the rumor that you’re going to take over as DHS?”

Greene laughed but dodged the question somewhat, replying: “I don’t know what’s going to happen Steve, we’re just thrilled to have President Trump back in the White House.”

Mike Bedigan has more.

In his first show since the election was called, the late-night host, who goaded Trump at this year’s Oscars ceremony, fought back tears as he reeled off a list of people who could now suffer under a second Trump administration.

James Liddell has more.

The former Republican strategist has gone viral with this assessment of the vote, offered as part of Anderson Cooper’s CNN panel on Election Night.

Jennings, often a highly divisive presence, argued that the outcome served as “the revenge of the regular old working class American”, as well as “an indictment of the political information complex”.

He explained that the final weeks of the campaign had been dominated by accusations of Nazism and fascism against the Trump campaign and media narratives like the Puerto Rico joke, Liz Cheney’s support for Harris, disaffected Nikki Haley voters potentially tanking the Trump vote and, before that, the popularity of Tim Walz and Harris-Walz camouflage hats.

None of those talking points ultimately mattered, Jennings argued, accusing the liberal media of “ignoring the fundamentals” in the process, meaning the state of the economy and the cost of living, which is what the public finally voted on.

Here’s John Bowden on why the pollsters got it so wrong – again.

Donald Trump’s allies have boasted they can finally admit that Project 2025 is on “the agenda” when the president-elect returns to the White House next year.

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House chief strategist who walked free from prison just days before the election, took to his War Room podcast on Wednesday to consider the former president’s upcoming second term.

Bannon cited a social media post by conservative activist Matt Walsh, who baited Kamala Harris supporters about the right-wing blueprint.

“Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda. Lol,” Walsh posted on X in a likely bid to get a rise out of his political opponents.

“Matt Walsh, I think, is a very smart and funny guy," Bannon said on his podcast.

“Now that the election is over, I think we can finally say that, yeah, actually, Project 2025 is the agenda.”

Rhian Lubin reports.

In amongst all the bad news for Democrats yesterday, one bright spot for the party’s progressive wing was the re-election of representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar in Michigan and Minnesota respectively.

The first two Muslim women to enter Congress are critics of Israel and important voices for Arab Americans.

They are also members of “The Squad” along with New Yorker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a collective that lost two other members earlier this year when Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush were de-selected in favor of opponents who had substantial financial support from the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

An angry Desi Lydic urged Americans to take a “good f***ing hard look” at themselves on last night’s show as she dissected Trump’s victory over Harris – and claimed the electorate would vote for anyone but a woman.

James Liddell reports.