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Joe Biden vehemently rejected Donald Trump and declared in a speech shortly after the Electoral College officially confirmed his victory that “the will of the people prevailed.”
It was “time to turn the page” in the presidential election that tested the backwardness of American democracy, with the president-elect clarifying a milestone just minutes after Hawaii cast his final four electoral college votes, but the results thwarted Trump’s unprecedented effort.
Biden hailed the presidential election and its unnamed consequences as the victory of American democracy and “one of the most spectacular demonstrations of civic duty ever seen in our country.”
The final count – 306 to 232 votes – followed the president’s unsubstantiated campaign to change the outcome of an election that saw a historic turnout despite an epidemic. Trump lost not only in the election college, but also in the popular vote – almost 7 m.
For weeks, however, the president made unfounded allegations that he had deceived voters in war states. His refusal to acknowledge has sown doubt among his supporters about the integrity of the vote and undermined the confidence of the US administration in the institutions.
In a speech from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, “Our democracy – pushed, tested, threatened – has proven to be flexible, real and strong.”
After taking office on January 20, Biden, the 46th President of the United States, continued: “We voted. The fairness of our elections remains the same. So, now is the time to turn the page as we have done in our history – to unite, to heal. ”
Since Biden entered the presidential race last year, he has declared the election the nation’s “battle for the soul.” In his comments Monday night, Biden described his election college victory as the culmination of that task and Trump’s rejection.
The president-elect called Trump’s attack on the democratic process “incompatible” and attacked Republicans who accepted his unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud. He isolated 126 members of the 17 state attorney generals and congresses who helped justify a legal attempt to expel tens of thousands of votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. , Lost the people’s vote and lost every state they tried to turn to. ” The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
These officials said, “We have taken a position that is more radical than we have ever seen before – a state that refuses to respect the will of the people, refuses to respect the rule of law and refuses to respect our Constitution.”
Anticipating further opposition from Trump and his allies, Biden noted that the president and his campaign “denied any action,” stressing that their efforts had failed in states with Republican governors and in courts with Republican-appointed judges.
“They were asked,” he said. “They were found to be ineligible.”
Nevertheless, Trump continued to deny the legitimacy of Monday’s election, saying the result was “severe” due to “massive fraud.” Twitter quickly moved to name the “controversial” announcements. Trump announced his resignation as Attorney General Bill Barr on Dec. 23 after 55 voters in California voted for Biden and pushed him to the doorstep of the 270-vote White House victory.
Trump recently lost patience with Barr, who was seen as a loyalist who eagerly presented the president’s political agenda, and the attorney general admitted that his department had no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
As a sign that the Republicans are increasingly ready to accept the reality, some senators and members of Congress agreed with the Electoral College vote.
“Transforming power properly is a sign of our democracy, and although I supported President Trump, the Electoral College referendum today makes it clear that Joe Biden is now President-elect,” Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman said in a statement.
After weeks of opposing his victory, Biden thanked some Republican senators for accepting election college votes. “We are confident that we can work together for the good of the nation,” Biden said, always optimistic that the four years of deep divisions between the two parties would usher in a new era.
With the election all over, he called on elected officials to return to “urgent work” to combat the corona virus epidemic. On Monday, the U.S. death toll rose to more than 300,000, the same day Americans began receiving the first shots of the vaccine against the virus.
While the path forward is challenging but is exacerbated by persistent divisions, Biden said electoral college votes should be a sign of hope for a weary nation.
He pointed to election officials who had done their duty in the face of political pressure, threats of violence and, in some cases, presidential intervention – many of them volunteers. Their unwavering commitment to the electoral process ensured that the “flame of democracy” was not extinguished, he said.
“They showed a deep and unshakable faith and commitment to the law,” Biden said. “They know the elections they oversee are fair, free and fair. They saw it with their own eyes and they will not be bullied into saying anything else.”