A street party erupted in front of the White House after Joe Biden declared himself the victor in the electoral contest with Donald Trump on Saturday, with similar mass acts of jubilation popping up in cities around the country.
Footage shows a sea of people, crammed like sardines, singing in front of the president's Washington, DC residence. In New York City, merrymakers danced and chanted in Washington Square Park. On the other side of the country, there was "fireworks, champagne and dancing in the streets of LA," the Los Angeles Times reported, as people toasted the projected president-elect.
But the celebrations seemed to clash with the Democrats' months-long narrative that controversial mail-in ballot initiatives were needed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Even CNN's Jake Tapper felt obliged to point out that the street parties seemed ill-advised considering that "we just had the highest day of infections in the United States." He took solace in the fact that some people were wearing masks, even though "for some of them they're slipping off their face."
Comment: Two were arrested in another protest over in Liverpool, attended by around 400.
High school students in Compiegne, France, protested new restrictions. Their confrontation with police turned violent.