I’ll end the disunited states, Biden tells his victory rally
JOE BIDEN pledged ‘not to divide, but to unify’ in his maiden address as the US president-elect.
Speaking to supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, Mr Biden said his win was ‘ a convincing victory’ for ‘ the people’. ‘I’m humbled by the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me,’ he said. ‘I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn’t see red and blue states, only sees the United States.’
Vice- president- elect Kamala Harris took to the stage first and told the crowd: ‘When our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, the very soul of America at stake, the world watching, you ushered in a new day for America.’ Daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, Ms Harris was the first woman elected to the role. She said she was thinking of her late mother Shyamala and ‘the generations of women, black women, Asian, white, Latina, native American women who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment’. Ms Harris added: ‘While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last.’
Former president Barack Obama said he ‘could not be prouder’ to congratulate Mr Biden and Ms Harris. And Hillary Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump in the 2016 presidential race, hailed the pair as ‘a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America’.
Mr Biden made a point of reaching out to his opponent’s supporters as he called for an end to the ‘harsh rhetoric’ that plagued the campaign.
He said: ‘For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now let’s give each other a chance.
‘It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.’ With coronavirus still surging in the US, Mr Biden said one of his priorities would be to tackle the pandemic. He said: ‘We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments – hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us – until we get it under control.’ He closed his speech by calling on the nation to come together to ‘restore the soul of America’.