Biden: First speech as US president-elect 6:42
(CNN) -
President-elect Joe Biden addressed a deeply divided nation Saturday night.
He addressed the challenges ahead, basing his victory speech on a spirit of compromise, calling on supporters of President Donald Trump to give him a chance and for all Americans to turn the page on what he described as a "dark age of demonization." .
Biden made that request for unity and understanding from the city where he grew up, Wilmington, Delaware, at an extraordinary moment in American history when the current occupant of the White House showed no indication that he planned to give in to his rival and continued to push for the fiction on Twitter that he had won the election, while making unfounded accusations about how the election was stolen.
After running on stage in a mask, Biden repeated his promise that he would seek to unify rather than divide.
He vowed to rule on the creed that he does not see blue states and red states, but only America.
When the campaign began almost two years ago, it would have been extraordinary to think that the Americans would show up to a victory rally in masks.
The fact that they had to, and at an in-car event in November, was a reminder of the moment of national extremis that Biden and Harris will inherit in January.
Biden said he sought the highest office in the nation "to rebuild the soul of America, rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, and make America once again respected around the world."
He recognized how black voters brought him to the finish line in both the primaries and the general elections by increasing turnout in key states on the battlefield.
But it was Biden's pleas to Trump voters, who also turned out in large numbers on Election Day, that were most surprising, as he faced the daunting task of governing in a heavily polarized nation.
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“To all of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight.
I've lost myself a couple of times.
But now, let's give ourselves a chance, ”Biden said.
“It is time to put aside the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.
And to move forward we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies.
Referring to Scripture, he added: "This is the time to heal in America."
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The motorized event in which Joe Biden gave his speech took place outside the Chase Center.
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Krista Matheny reacts as she watches Biden's speech from Times Square in New York Andrew Kelly / Reuters
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"Tonight the whole world is looking at America, and I believe that, at our best, America is a beacon to the world," Biden said in his first address to the nation as president-elect.
"We will lead not only by the example of our power, but also by the power of our example."
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People watch Biden's speech from the driveway of a house in New Orleans.
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People in Times Square in New York watch Biden's speech.
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Kamala Harris takes the stage in Wilmington.
Harris is the first black and South Asian woman to be the elected vice president of the United States.
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The number 46 is seen at the Biden event in Wilmington.
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Biden's supporters celebrate their victory outside the Chase Center.
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People fill the street in front of the White House on November 7.
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People celebrate in Philadelphia on November 7.
Pennsylvania was the state that put Biden above the 270 electoral votes needed for the presidency.
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President Trump greets supporters as he leaves the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, on November 7.
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Trump supporters pray alongside an opposing protester in Lansing, Michigan, after Biden was projected as the winner on November 7.
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People celebrate Biden's victory at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington.
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Biden's wife, Jill, tweeted this photo after his win was screened on November 7.
"He will be the president of all our families," he said.
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A man celebrates from a rooftop in New York.
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Biden supporters celebrate in Miami on November 7.
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Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, tweeted this photo of him and Harris that was taken on November 7.
"I am very proud of you," Emhoff wrote.
From Doug Emhoff / Twitter
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Trump supporters gather at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on November 7.
Biden maintains a small lead in the state, which has not voted for a Democratic president since 1992. Chris Aluka Berry / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
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Olivia Cox reacts to Biden's victory at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington.
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Trump plays golf in Sterling, Virginia, on November 7.
The president was on the field when Biden was cast as the winner.
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People celebrate in Times Square in New York on November 7.
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The speech marked the traditional axis between a fierce campaign and calls for unity that are traditional after a bitter election.
He also epitomized the perceptible beginning of the process of handover of power to a newly elected president from a defeated one, who despised tradition throughout.
And it was a rare moment in the last five years that Trump was not the dominant figure to gain attention on the national political stage.
Aware of the historic significance of the moment, the Biden campaign opened the event with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Harris will be the first woman - and the first woman of color - to serve as vice president.
Invoking the legacy of the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, Harris praised campaign supporters for participating in record numbers at a time when "our own democracy was on the ballot in this election."
And he said they had chosen hope, science and truth by electing Biden as the next president.
He also credited Biden for having the "audacity to break down one of the most substantial barriers in our country and select a woman as its vice president."
"While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because all the girls who watch tonight see that this is a country of possibilities."
“And to the children of our country, regardless of their gender, our country has sent a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others may not see, simply because they have never I had seen it before.
And we will applaud you every step of the way.
As Biden and Harris prepared for those victory speeches, jubilant celebrations erupted in America's big cities, with supporters filling the streets, shouting, singing, dancing and waving flags as the drivers honked their horns, to mark victory and end of Trump's presidency.
The celebrations began near the White House on Saturday as Trump played golf in Virginia, forcing the burning president back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in his caravan through the crowd after hitting the fields.
There was no indication that Trump would extend the traditional invitation for a visit to the White House to the president-elect, as he continues to falsely claim that the election was stolen.
Trump's refusal to compromise
While Trump has yet to give any public signal that he is willing to step down from power, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, approached him to grant the election, two sources told CNN on Saturday.
Trump has not denied the election result, at least in private, sources told CNN.
But he continues to pressure his attorneys to make legal disputes that would delay the formal certification of the results.
White House Secretary Mark Meadows, who works from home after testing positive for coronavirus, discussed next steps with the legal team on Saturday.
Trump again on Saturday unsubstantiated contesting the mail-in ballots, which overwhelmingly tipped the election in Biden's favor, and repeated the falsehoods on Twitter that he "WON THE ELECTION."
He claimed that "bad things happened" in the election that his election observers could not see, although there is no evidence that Republican election observers were systematically excluded from the process anywhere in the country.
«71,000,000 legal votes.
Most IN HISTORY for a sitting president! ”Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.
(While the popular vote count continued to rise for both men as the ballots were counted on Saturday, Biden had won 74.5 million votes and Trump had won 70.4 million votes.)
Trump's campaign team is expected to continue its effort to challenge the election results with an upcoming round of lawsuits on Monday, but so far they have been unable to point to any credible cases of voter fraud that would alter the outcome of the contest.
It is unclear how isolated cases of wrongdoing, even if found, would add to a case with enough legal questions to reach the Supreme Court or challenge the integrity of an election that Biden appears to eventually win with enough electoral votes, which it would make the challenges in individual states could not alter the national result.
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The legal front increasingly seems like a rallying point for supporters interested in preventing Biden's presidency from being seen as legitimate by Trump supporters and as a face-saving way for the president himself to explain his defeat.
Renowned Republican election attorney Benjamin Ginsberg said there were no signs the president had any cases that could change the outcome of the election.
He told CNN's Erin Burnett that thus far "there was no evidence of systemic fraud or wrongdoing to call into question the results in either state."
The White House noted that the public was unlikely to see the president shortly after he returned from golfing Saturday afternoon, but he was within earshot of the crowd clamoring for his departure in Washington.
A joyous gathering took place directly in front of the White House in Black Lives Matter Plaza, near where the Trump administration enraged activists in June by clearing off peaceful protesters with pepper spray balls, stun grenades and rubber bullets during a rally against police brutality shortly before Trump crossed the street for a photoshoot while holding a Bible in front of the historic St. John's Church.
While Trump may not accept that he has lost, many world leaders did so on Saturday when they sent messages of congratulations to Biden and Harris.
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In a sign of how quickly global realities are changing after the US elections, even some leaders who had courted Trump, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were quick to congratulate the president-elect.
In perhaps the most notable message, India's nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had appeared at large campaign rallies with Trump in India and the United States, tweeted an image of Biden leaning in to whisper in his ear during an earlier meeting.
Modi sent a separate tweet congratulating Harris and highlighting his Indian heritage, saying that his success was a great source of pride for Indian-Americans and his "chittis," a Tamil term of endearment that has been used by the vice president-elect. .
The Republicans' reaction
Many prominent Republicans were silent on Saturday, but there were a few exceptions.
Among them is former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who lost the nomination to Trump in 2016. Also Utah Senator Mitt Romney, candidate in 2012.
Trump's failure to concede and congratulate his opponent may have suppressed the normal courtesies of Republican leaders who remain intimidated by him and who rely on the president's foundation for their 2024 re-election prospects.
While Biden accomplished an impressive feat in removing a sitting president and rebuilding the Democrats' "blue wall" in the Midwest, he is well aware of the enormous governance challenge he faces given his slim margin of victory in key states.
Beyond that, despite fervent hopes that they might generate a strong repudiation of Trump and his party at the polls, the Democrats actually lost seats in the House of Representatives, although they will retain the majority.
Despite massive fundraising, Democrats also failed to make a dent in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The balance of power in the chamber hinges on two possible runoff elections in Georgia in January.
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Biden outlined ambitious goals during his campaign.
From a major revamp of the tax code to aggressive efforts to deal with the climate crisis and an expansion of Obamacare.
That was while trying to hold his fractious party together and inspire the loyalty of the progressive Democrats backing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Pressures from the left were already evident on Saturday.
"I think he has a very, very strong mandate," Sanders told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
"Now is the time for workers to be heard and their pain addressed."
The challenges of the covid-19 crisis
But the political reality of a still polarized nation, a divided government in Washington, and the difficulty of resolving the nation's Covid-19 crisis are likely to dampen Biden's ambitions.
In his remarks Saturday night, Biden vowed to have the pandemic "under control" so that Americans could regain their most precious moments, from visiting grandchildren to celebrating weddings and graduations.
He noted that on Monday he would appoint a group of leading scientists and experts to his coronavirus task force, who would build an "action plan" that could be implemented as soon as it is invested in January.
The task force will be chaired by three co-chairs: former Director of Health Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration (FSA) Commissioner David Kessler, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the College of Yale University Medicine, CNN reported Saturday.
Biden's plan to fight the virus, he said, would be rooted in science and built on compassion, empathy and concern.
As he did throughout the campaign, Biden spoke about the pain that many Americans have experienced during the pandemic.
He alluded to the loss of his own son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
Capturing the faith that sustains him, Biden quoted a Catholic hymn - "On Eagle's Wings" - that he said had meant a lot to his family and Beau Biden.
“I hope I can bring some comfort to the 230,000 Americans who have lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year.
My heart goes out to each and every one of you, ”Biden said.
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As CNN's Arlette Sáenz reported, there was another reminder of Beau when fireworks lit up the sky outside the Chase Center: One of the songs played during the show was "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay, a favorite band. by Beau Biden.
Obama on Biden's future challenges
Former President Barack Obama underscored the future challenges for his former vice president on Saturday when he asked Americans to put aside their political differences and "give him a chance and give him your support."
“When you enter the White House in January, you will face a series of extraordinary challenges that no incoming president has faced.
A raging pandemic, an uneven economy and justice system, a democracy at risk and an environment at risk, Obama said.
"I know you will get the job done with the best interests of all Americans in mind, whether or not you had your vote."
Obama noted that the election results "at all levels show that the country remains deeply and bitterly divided."
"It will be up to not just Joe and Kamala, but each of us, to do our part: to go beyond our comfort zone, listen to others, lower the temperature, and find common ground from which to move forward."
Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
Elections 2020 United States
