President-elect Biden addresses the nation
In his first speech as president-elect on Saturday, Joe Biden said he hoped to unite the nation with President Trump, who so far refused to admit defeat in the race, after a particularly bitter campaign.
“People, the people of this nation, have spoken,” Biden said on an outdoor stage in the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, as a crowd, with many people watching, honking and cheering in agreement from their cars. “You gave us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for us humans. We won the most votes ever cast on a presidential ticket in nation history, 74 million! “
The former vice president repeatedly tried to reiterate his campaign message that he would try to become president for all Americans, regardless of whether they voted for him.
“I promise to be a president who doesn’t want to divide, but to unite. If you don’t see red and blue states, you only see the United States, ”said Biden.
“All of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. … But now we’re giving each other a chance. We have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies, ”Biden told the crowd. “They are not our enemies. You are American. This is the time for America to heal. “
President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday. (Andrew Harnik / Pool via Reuters)
Biden was declared the winner of the particularly bloody race against President Trump on a day of personal importance to the Democrat: it was 48 years before he was first elected to the United States Senate in his home state of Delaware.
Biden ran two failed presidential campaigns – one in 1988 and one in 2008. He served as Vice President under President Barack Obama for eight years from 2009 to 2017, then crossed the finish line on his third attempt.
When several major news outlets called the race in Biden’s favor late Saturday morning, Trump was playing golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia. The president vented his frustration on Twitter and continued his attempt to discredit Biden’s victory, arguing that voting irregularities deprived him of the presidency.
The story goes on
“The observers were not allowed into the counting rooms. I won the election and received 71,000,000 legal votes. BAD THINGS HAPPENED THAT OUR OBSERVERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN-BALLOTS HAVE BEEN SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR YOU! “Trump said in a tweet that Twitter was quick to reveal information about“ controversial election fraud ”.
Senator Kamala Harris from California, Biden’s runmate and the first black woman to be elected vice president introduced the elected president.
“When our democracy was on the ballot in this election, the soul of America was at stake and the world was watching, you ushered in a new day for America,” said Harris, who wore all white, and nodded to the women who fought for it To give women the right to vote in the US
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepares to address the nation on Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware. (Andrew Harnik / Pool via AP)
Harris noted the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country and thanked all officials and volunteers who had ensured that the elections continued.
“Our nation owes you thanks to the election workers and officials in our country who have worked tirelessly to ensure that every vote is counted. You have protected the integrity of our democracy, ”said Harris.
In her storied speech, Harris, the daughter of an Indian-American mother and Jamaican father, drew on her own background and said she pondered the life of her mother Shyamala Gopalan, who died of cancer in 2009.
“I think of them and the generations of women – black women, Asians, whites, Latina, Indians who paved the way for this moment in our nation’s history tonight,” Harris said.
The announcement that Biden had won the election sparked mass celebrations in many of the heavily democratic cities that Trump had attacked in the campaign for weeks. Thousands of people gathered in Washington, DC, New York, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, and Austin, among others. Smaller crowds of Trump supporters also gathered to show their support for the president, such as those who greeted him as he exited his golf course in Virginia.
“We’re so excited that Donald Trump is almost out of the White House,” said a White House man who gave his first name when Darryl told Yahoo News.
Biden supporters celebrate his victory in front of the White House on Saturday. (Mostafa Bassim Adly / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Solemn crowds also gathered outside the Naval Observatory, Vice President Mike Pence’s official residence.
A woman who said her name was Delaney waved a sign that read “KAMALA’S HOUSE” and stated that Biden’s runner-up will be moving in after the inauguration in January. “This is Kamala’s house!” Delaney yelled.
Delaney said she went to the same place as a young girl after the 2000 election and saw Republican protesters yelling at then-Vice President Al Gore. That motivated her to give Pence the same treatment. “I was 10 years old. I’ll never forget, “said Delaney. “That is justification. Now we’ve won. “
As the president’s political enemies basked in the knowledge that he had lost to Biden, Trump’s lawyers, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, held a press conference outside a landscaping company in Philadelphia on Saturday. Trump himself announced the press conference on his Twitter feed and seemed to signal that it would take place at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel.
Shortly thereafter, however, the hotel made it clear that Trump’s press conference would actually be held at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a local kindergarten.
Giuliani hit media organizations that had set up the race for Biden.
“All networks thought Biden would win 10 percent. Gee what happened? Come on don’t be ridiculous! Networks cannot decide about elections, ”said Giuliani.
However, the network projections showing Trump lost were based on the number of votes cast by state officials across the country for each candidate. They showed that Biden leads Trump with more than 4 million votes, but mostly with victories in key battlefield states that had given him a solid majority of the vote on the electoral college.
As Trump and his legal team say they are preparing to challenge multiple states’ election results in court, most observers consider this strategy quixotic, and leaders from around the world seemed ready to move on from Trump, congratulating Biden and Harris for their obvious victory.
“Congratulations to President-elect @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris on winning the US presidential election,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Twitter. “With so many problems facing the international community, we share your message of unity. New Zealand looks forward to working with you both! “
Krista Matheny listens to Biden’s speech on Saturday in Times Square, New York City. (Andrew Kelly / Reuters)
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has often criticized Trump, also said in a statement that she thinks the US president’s race is over.
“I look forward to working with President Biden in the future. Our transatlantic friendship is irreplaceable if we are to face the great challenges of our time, ”said Merkel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a tweet that he believed Biden’s election would lead to an even stronger friendship between the two nations. It was a conversation with Zelensky in which Trump pressured him to investigate Biden and his family, which sparked the impeachment proceedings initiated by the House Democrats against the president.
“Congratulations to @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris! #Ukraine is optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership with the #UnitedStates, ”wrote Zelensky.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and others also congratulated the president-elect.
At home, only a handful of Republicans publicly congratulated Biden and Harris.
Other Republicans were more inclined to repeat the current president than to support the man who had been elected to replace him.
In Wilmington on Saturday night, the coming legal challenges for Biden and Harris basking at the moment of their triumph over Trump seemed little more than an afterthought.
“You conveyed a clear message: you chose hope and unity, decency and science, and yes, truth. You have chosen Joe Biden as the next President of the United States, “said Harris, adding,” I am the first woman in this office, but not the last. “
“Too many dreams have been put on hold for too long. We have to make the country’s promise come true for everyone, ”said Biden in a speech marked by his ambitious tone.
“We are at a turning point again. We have the opportunity to defeat despair and build a nation of prosperity and purpose, ”he said. “We can do it. I know we can.”
From left: Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Harris, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill, will be on stage together on Saturday night. (Andrew Harnik / Pool via AP)
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