After a chaotic bid, a projected 161 million plus votes, slow moving counts, and 90 hours between polls closing and the final election call, Former Vice President Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States.
On Nov. 7, late in the morning, the state of Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes put President-Elect Biden over the coveted 270 vote threshold, securing him the presidency, as well as giving his running mate, now Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, the role of the nation’s 49th Vice President. Harris will be the first woman to serve as VP, as well as the first African American, as well as the first Asian American to ever hold the office.
“But while I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last,” Harris said in her acceptance speech Saturday night. “Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
President-Elect Biden jogged onstage in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware just after Harris. “My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for ‘We the People’,” he said. “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn’t see red and blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.”
In recent days, Biden has worked to push his transition into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which will be made official on Jan. 20 of next year. His campaign has also begun hinting at plans for the first 100 days in office, starting with reinstituting the United States’ stake in the World Health Organization, which Trump rolled back in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden has further committed to beginning initiatives to combat climate change, as well as moving to cancel some student debt.
Biden’s plans will surely be stymied by the Senate should it remain in Republican control. However, the fate of the legislative body is currently in flux, as two races in Georgia are headed towards January runoffs. If both races are won by Democrats, there may be an even 50-50 split, which would leave Vice President Kamala Harris to be the deciding vote.
As of presstime, President Trump has yet to concede the election, and he as well as members of his administration instead have spent the last several days making baseless accusations of widespread election fraud, that in their estimation is enough to reverse the outcome of the election. “We will win!” President Trump tweeted on several occasions of late, hoping several lawsuits in swing states will end in his favor.
It has been reported that both First Lady Melania Trump and Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the president, have approached the President about conceding. Reportedly, Trump has asked federal agencies to not recognize Biden’s transition, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” when asked about if the State Department will cooperate with Biden’s incoming transition. As of right now, if results hold, Joe Biden will win the electoral college by 77 electoral votes.
On Tuesday, President-Elect Biden called Trump’s refusal to concede “An embarrassment,” and has said that nothing will stop the peaceful transition of power, as has happened in this country since 1797.