Biden said in a statement Saturday, “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.”
“We are the United States of America,” he wrote. “And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
Biden made no mention of his opponent, President Donald Trump, who has not conceded the race.
Biden clinched the White House with a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born. He will be the 46th president of the United States.
With Pennsylvania now in his column, Democrat Joe Biden has passed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.
President Donald Trump however is not conceding to President-elect Joe Biden, promising unspecified legal challenges seeking to overturn the outcome of the race for the White House.
Trump said in a statement that “our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”
Trump was at his Virginia golf course when the presidential race was called for Biden on Saturday. Biden clinched his victory with a win in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born.
In recent weeks, Trump has alleged — without evidence — widespread fraud and misconduct in the election.
His comments have drawn bipartisan rebuke from election officials and lawmakers as dangerous attempts to undermine public confidence in the vote.
People cheered and pumped their fists along the Wilmington, Delaware, waterfront as the news that the presidential race had been called for the state’s former senator arrived on their cellphones.
The waterfront is just steps from the outdoor stage that Democrat Joe Biden erected on Election Day to celebrate victory.
On the water late Saturday morning, two men on a kayak yelled to a couple paddling by in the opposite direction, “Joe won! They called it!” as people on the shore whooped and hollered.
Biden’s campaign had not yet scheduled a victory celebration, but he was expected to take the stage for a drive-in rally after dark.
During a speech late Friday night, Biden said he would be declared the winner very soon, adding, “I hope to be talking to you tomorrow.
Democrat Joe Biden has won Pennsylvania, surpassing the 270 electoral vote threshold to take the White House and become the 46th president of the United States.
Biden also carried Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan on his path to the presidency, flipping states that President Donald Trump won in 2016.
Pennsylvania was a must-win state for Trump.
The 77-year-old Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and sought to contrast his working-class roots with the affluent Trump’s by casting the race as “Scranton versus Park Avenue.”
Biden’s victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots.
Also read: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided US
Trump is the first incumbent president to lose reelection since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
States are still counting votes in the presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden is on the verge of victory and President Donald Trump is at his Virginia golf club for the first time since the end of September.
Trump left the White House on Saturday morning and had on golf shoes, a windbreaker and a white hat.
The White House isn’t immediately responding to questions about the president’s possible golfing partners.
There were a few people with Biden flag banners outside the club entrance when Trump arrived.
Trump also has spent the morning tweeting about his unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and illegal voting. Twitter hid four of the president’s tweets behind a warning label that they may contain disputed or misleading statements about the election.
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