For all the concerns about a tumultuous process that could leave Americans waiting for days to learn who its next president would be, news outlets instead experienced an election night that hewed close to tradition.

Fox News Channel was the first to declare Donald Trump had reclaimed the presidency at 1:47 a.m. on Wednesday. Other television networks and The Associated Press had Trump on the precipice of returning to presidency when he took the stage in Florida at 2:25 a.m. to declare victory. 香蕉视频直播淭his is, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time,香蕉视频直播� Trump said onstage at his victory party in West Palm Beach.

His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, would speak later Wednesday morning, her campaign manager said, dispersing a crowd that had gathered to celebrate her at Howard University.

Broadcast, cable news networks, digital news sites and one streaming service 香蕉视频直播� Amazon 香蕉视频直播� steadily into Wednesday morning. Many of their journalists had that determining the winner could be a protracted process that could take several days, .

Yet from the first hints provided by exit poll results shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern time, the election night story moved methodically in Trump香蕉视频直播檚 direction. The dam broke at 11:18 p.m. on Tuesday, when the AP called the first of seven battleground states, North Carolina, for the former president.

Networks forge forward quickly

The networks moved quickly into the post-mortem stage.

香蕉视频直播淭his looks a lot more like 2016 to me than 2020,香蕉视频直播� NBC香蕉视频直播檚 Chuck Todd said, a reference to Trump香蕉视频直播檚 victory that year over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Fox News Channel pointed to exit poll results that showed Trump making gains among young voters and Latinos. 香蕉视频直播淭he Biden-Harris people pushed them into Trump香蕉视频直播檚 open arms,香蕉视频直播� said Fox香蕉视频直播檚 Dana Perino, a former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush.

香蕉视频直播淢aybe,香蕉视频直播� Fox News香蕉视频直播� Brit Hume said, 香蕉视频直播渋t香蕉视频直播檚 time for his enemies to stop it.香蕉视频直播�

In his speech, Trump praised his running mate, J.D. Vance for 香蕉视频直播済oing into the enemy camp香蕉视频直播� for interviews on places like CNN and MSNBC. 香蕉视频直播淗e absolutely obliterated them,香蕉视频直播� he said.

Hours earlier, when the first exit poll results showed the unpopularity of President Joe Biden and Americans with a dim view of where the country was headed, CNN香蕉视频直播檚 Chris Wallace said that 香蕉视频直播渋t would be a miracle if Harris could win with that.香蕉视频直播� His colleagues, Dana Bash and Audie Cornish, warned him of jumping to conclusions that Harris would be blamed for that, but Wallace sounded more prescient as the night progressed.

香蕉视频直播淪he was trying to do something as a sitting vice president that had never been done before 香蕉视频直播� succeed an unpopular president,香蕉视频直播� Todd said.

Analysts question the element of race

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill, an NBC News analyst, said the element of race could not be discounted. Some Americans were more comfortable with President Joe Biden, a white man, than Harris, who was attempting to be the first woman of color to be elected president, she said.

香蕉视频直播淐an you imagine a woman of color acting the way Donald Trump acted 香蕉视频直播� even for one day?香蕉视频直播� CNN analyst Van Jones said. 香蕉视频直播淭he kinds of stuff that he said, the kinds of stuff that he did, the way that he would insult people. If you香蕉视频直播檙e a person of color, you don香蕉视频直播檛 feel like you have the freedom.香蕉视频直播�

Trump had 香蕉视频直播渁 license to just be a fool, just to be an obnoxious ass 香蕉视频直播� and he gets to be president,香蕉视频直播� Jones said.

Due to remarkably close pre-election polls, the outcome was considered a mystery that could take many days to resolve. In his last pre-election prediction, statistician Nate Silver said it was no better than a coin flip, giving an ever-so-slight edge to Harris.

The New York Times香蕉视频直播� predictive Needle judged the contest a 香蕉视频直播渢oss-up香蕉视频直播� in the beginning of the evening, leaning slightly toward Trump. But it moved steadily in Trump香蕉视频直播檚 direction, to the point where the Times by midnight judged Trump with a 90 percent likelihood of capturing the presidency again.

Also by midnight, CNN香蕉视频直播檚 count had Trump leading Harris in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin 香蕉视频直播� the so-called blue wall that was central to her strategy for victory.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 not mission impossible香蕉视频直播� for Harris to come back and win Pennsylvania, CNN香蕉视频直播檚 John King said, looking over voter statistics. 香蕉视频直播淏ut it香蕉视频直播檚 becoming mission improbable.香蕉视频直播� Within two hours, CNN awarded Pennsylvania to Trump.

For much of the night, the journalists who stood before 香蕉视频直播渕agic boards香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� King, Bill Hemmer on Fox News Channel, Steve Kornacki on MSNBC 香蕉视频直播� took up much of the airtime with granular reports on results. State-by-state, county-by-county, they showed numbers where Trump was outperforming his 2020 campaign and Harris lagged behind Biden香蕉视频直播檚 results.

If anything, the networks relied too much on their numbers czars than on their reporters.

To have results was a relief

The presence of actual results were a tonic to news organizations that had weeks 香蕉视频直播� and an excruciatingly long 香蕉视频直播� to talk about an election campaign that polls have repeatedly shown to be remarkably tight. They tried to extract wisdom from anecdotal evidence.

香蕉视频直播淒ixville Notch is a metaphor for the entire race,香蕉视频直播� CNN香蕉视频直播檚 Alyssa Farah Griffin said, making efforts to draw meaning from the tiny that reported its 3-3 vote for Harris and Trump in the early morning hours.

Former NBC News anchor Brian Williams, during his one-night leading Amazon香蕉视频直播檚 streamcast appearance, had one unexpected guest in the California studio where he was operating. Puck reporter Tara Palmeri was supposed to report from Trump headquarters in West Palm Beach but was denied credentials to attend by the former president香蕉视频直播檚 team.

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita described her as a 香蕉视频直播済ossip columnist香蕉视频直播� in a post on the social media site X. Palmeri told Williams she had accurately reported some anxiety within the Trump camp about who was voting early.

Neither Axios nor Politico would immediately confirm reports that some of their reporters were similarly banned, and the Trump campaign did not immediately return a call for comment.