President-elect Joe Biden stepped up to the stage of Democracy Monday evening and claimed a victory for the nation. He said that politicians do not take the power. Rather, the people give the power to them. The next president of these United States once again promised he would be the president equally, whether the people vote for him or against him. At the same time, straight-shooting Joe Biden did not pull any punches.
The 46th president said:
‘The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame.’
Hours after the Electoral College votes formally gave Biden the presidency, he took his rightful place. Trump took 232 votes, but each state’s electors following the popular vote results gave Biden 306 votes, 270 votes are enough to win. Ironically, 306 is the same number of electoral votes Donald Trump won in 2016. The former vice president noted that Trump called it a “clear victory,” as it was then and is now.
Biden said “the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people prevailed” over all attempts by Donald Trump to circumvent them. The next president also called to task the 17 state attorneys general and 126 members of Congress who united behind Donald Trump to cast aside free and fair elections. It was an attempted daylight coup, although Biden did not need to point that out to the viewers.
The former senator and vice president has already begun righting this ship of state that Trump has tried for five years to sink. Biden brings normalcy, certainty, and historical patriotism back, reminding us of what we worried was forever lost. He said:
‘It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kinds of threats and abuse we saw in this election. It’s simply unconscionable.’
The President-elect pointed out that the 81 million votes cast for him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were the most in the history of our great nation. Lest anyone doubt his win, Biden said it was seven million votes over and beyond what Trump and Vice President Mike Pence received.
The next president said that Trump took full advantage of all the legal routes through state and federal courts and even the Supreme Court — twice. Each time, every time, the sitting president failed, Biden said:
‘And yet, none of this could stop baseless claims about the legitimacy of the results.’
Biden declared it time to “turn the page, to unite, to heal:”
‘In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed. We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page. To unite. To heal.’
President-elect Biden quickly moved forward to how he will begin the first days of his new administration. He and his teams of scientists and experts will be tackling the coronavirus pandemic. It starts with the distribution of vaccines and continues until the pandemic slows. Then, he will begin rebuilding our economy, laid low by the pandemic. Most of all, he will provide help to families who have suffered greatly “through no fault of their own!’Â He said:
‘There is urgent work in front of all of us. Getting the pandemic under control to getting the nation vaccinated against this virus. Delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many Americans who are hurting today — Â and then building our economy back better than it ever was.’
Normal is comforting after a long winter of disease, chaos, and fear. Thanks, Biden. The following are his entire remarks:
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
