After five days of counting and more than 270 electoral votes, America has chosen former Vice President Joe Biden to be the 46th president of the United States.
Biden’s trailblazing victory makes him the first candidate to beat an incumbent president in more than a quarter-century, according to the New York Times.
In his victory speech on Saturday night in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden called it “a time to heal in America” and said, “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.”
Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Biden’s running mate, will become the first woman, first Black person and first person of South Asian descent to assume the role of vice president.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” Harris said in her victory speech on Saturday night.
Biden’s victory amounted to a unification of thousands of supporters, demolishing lines of racial, ethnic, class and gender divides and uniting the country during a time of deep division.
Referencing President Trump only once during this victory speech, Biden spoke directly to Trump supporters, sympathizing with their loss and encouraging
“I’ve lost a couple of times myself,” he recalled, “Now let’s give each other a chance.”
The streets of New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and other prominent cities overflowed with Biden supporters rallying together in celebration of this Democratic victory. Protests of Trump supporters quickly erupted over vote counts from Arizona to Texas, according to the Washington Post.
President Trump refused to concede, pushing immediately for a rhetoric of fraud and faulty election results.
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed,” he said in a statement. “The simple fact is this election is far from over.” according to Reuters.
President Trump announced intentions to start “prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld,” according to CNBC.
While President Trump claims that he has won the election, his claims remain unsubstantiated and without reliable evidence, according to Fact Checks by the Associated Press.
Biden has already announced plans to sign a series of executive orders upon his inauguration on January 20. These include intentions to rejoin the Paris climate accords and reverse President Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, according to the Washington Post.
With plans to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Biden has ambitions that may be halted by political divisions within Congress.
“It’s going to be very challenging for Biden to implement some of the ambitious pandemic preparedness and response plans he has,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, according to the Washington Post.
As he enters into the presidency during a global pandemic and harsh political division, Biden hopes to be an “American President,” representing and leading all people regardless of political affiliation.
“It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric,” he said, “lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress.”