Biden appeals for unity in speech to the nation

WILMINGTON, Del. — In a time of plague and raw division, Presidentelect Joe Biden appealed for unity Wednesday in a Thanksgivingeve address to the nation asking Americans to “steel our spines” for a fight against the coronavirus that he predicted would continue for months.

But even as he implored Americans to join in healing and common purpose, President Trump asserted that the election should be overturned, a futile call but one that stokes the divisions Biden is trying to overcome.

With COVID19 cases surging nationwide, Biden called on Americans to take precautions to try to stem the tide of the virus, by wearing masks and practicing social distancing. While he said the federal government has “vast powers” to combat the virus, “the federal government can’t do it alone.”

“Each of us has a responsibility in our own lives to do what we can to slow the virus,” he said in remarks in Wilmington. “We are at war with the virus, not with one another.”

Biden said that, until there’s a vaccine, wearing masks, social distancing and limiting the size of gatherings “are our most effective tools to combat the virus.” But he pledged that from the start of his presidency, “We will take steps that will change the course of the disease,” including increasing testing, providing more protective gear and clearer guidance for businesses and schools to reopen.

And he said that he himself was taking precautions around Thanksgiving and eschewing his traditional large family gathering, instead spending the holiday with just his wife, daughter and soninlaw.