LA 2024 bid committee looks to Trump as a unifier

[November 10, 2016]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump's stunning victory in the U.S. presidential election was applauded on Wednesday by the Los Angeles bid committee that hopes to land the 2024 Olympics.

While Trump has angered many people with his polarizing words during a lengthy and often tumultuous presidential campaign, LA 2024 praised the Republican for "his longstanding support of the Olympic movement in the United States."

In a statement, the LA bid committee said: "LA 2024 congratulates President-elect Donald J. Trump ... we strongly believe the Olympics and LA 2024 transcend politics and can help unify our diverse communities and our world.

"LA 2024 has achieved 88 percent public support in the latest poll and strong bipartisan government support at the local, state and federal level.\

"We look forward to working closely with President-elect Trump and his Administration across the federal government to deliver a 'New Games for a new Era' that will benefit and inspire the entire Olympic movement in 2024."

A wealthy real estate developer and former reality TV host, Trump defeated heavily favored rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's presidential election, ending eight years of Democratic rule and sending the U.S. on a new, uncertain path.

On the campaign trail, Trump had made even his party's establishment uneasy with his abrasive tone and policy positions, including his promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, deport 11 million illegal immigrants and temporarily bar Muslims from entering the country.

A man crosses the road in downtown Los Angeles, California, March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Earlier this year, however, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the Olympics transcended politics and it would not matter whether Trump or Clinton ended up winning the presidential election.

"When the dust settles on these presidential campaigns and we have a new president, he or she will squarely be behind Los Angeles' bid to bring these Games back to the U.S." Garcetti said at the United States Olympic Committee media summit.

"This is something that breaks down walls and something that brings us together."

Los Angeles is up against European glamor cities Paris and Budapest in the race to host the 2024 Summer Games.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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