‘Democracy prevailed’ — Biden wins
WILMINGTON: Presidentelect Joe Biden yesterday delivered a forceful rebuke to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of his victory, hours after winning the statebystate Electoral College vote that officially determines the United States presidency.
‘‘In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,’’ Biden said in a primetime speech from his home town of Wilmington, Delaware.
‘‘Now it’s time to turn the page, as we’ve done throughout our history — to unite, to heal.’’
Yesterday’s vote, typically a formality, assumed outsized significance in light of Trump’s extraordinary effort to subvert the process due to what he has falsely alleged was widespread voter fraud in the November 3 election.
California, the most populous US state, put Biden beyond the 270 votes needed to win the Electoral College when its 55 electors unanimously cast ballots for him and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Biden and Harris — the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to become vicepresidentelect — will be sworn in on January 20.
In his speech, Biden, the Democratic former vicepresident, called for unity while voicing confidence the country’s democratic institutions had held in the face of Trump’s attempts to reverse the election outcome.
‘‘The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago,’’ Biden said. ‘‘We now know that not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame.’’
Biden emphasised Trump and his allies filed ‘‘dozens and dozens’’ of legal challenges to the vote totals and failed, including a Texas lawsuit asking the US Supreme Court to invalidate four states’ results. The court, including three Trump appointees, rejected the bid with no dissents.
He also noted that his 306232 margin was the same as Trump’s 2016 victory, which the Republican described as a ‘‘landslide’’. — Reuters