Watch Joe Biden, in his first speech as president-elect, urges unity: 'Time to heal in America'
"I will work to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify," said Biden.
- President-elect Joe Biden called on Americans to come together and heal Saturday in his first speech since winning the presidency.
- “This is the time to heal in America,” he said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, that capped off a day of celebrations and impromptu parades nationwide.
- Biden reached out to voters who supported President Donald Trump, telling the crowd of supporters: “They are not our enemies. They’re Americans.”
WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden called on Americans to come together and heal Saturday in his first speech since winning the presidency.
“This is the time to heal in America,” he said in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, that capped off a day of celebrations and impromptu parades nationwide.
“We’ve won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket ... and we’re seeing all over this nation, and in all cities in all parts of the country, indeed across the world, an outpouring of joy.”
Biden reached out to those voters who supported President Donald Trump, telling the crowd of supporters: “They are not our enemies. They’re Americans.”
“I will work to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify. I won’t see red states and blue states, I will always see the United States,” said Biden.
Trump has so far refused to accept the results of the election, and on Saturday the president insisted in a tweet that he had “won this election, by a lot!”
Trump and his campaign have filed lawsuits in a half-dozen closely contested states this week, seeking to create the illusion that the vote was tainted, and that Biden’s win is illegitimate. Legal experts have dismissed the suits as meritless.
Biden’s only mention of Trump on Saturday was the olive branch he extended to the president’s supporters.
“To those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” he said. “I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.”
“Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end, here and now.”
Biden clinched his victory on Saturday, when the votes tallied over the past four days in Pennsylvania added up to an insurmountable lead for him. The state’s 20 electoral college votes pushed his total over the 270-vote threshold needed to win.
Later in the day Saturday, NBC News also projected Biden would win Nevada, adding an additional six Electoral College votes to his column.
Biden said his first priority will be to bring the surging coronavirus pandemic under control. New daily cases have eclipsed 100,000 in recent days. Hospitalizations and deaths are also rising.
