Joe Biden made his first public remarks as the apparent winner of the presidential election, a speech he’s likely been considering since he first ran for the White House more than three decades ago.
“The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for ‘we the people.’ We won with the most votes ever cast in the history of our nation,” Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday evening.
He promised to unify the nation at home and mend its reputation abroad, reminding the crowd that he began his third White House campaign “to restore the soul of this nation.”
Biden spoke directly to black supporters, who revived his flagging bid in the South Carolina primary, while bragging that he had amassed the “broadest coalition” for the general election.
“When this campaign was at its lowest ebb, the African American community stood up again for me. You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours,” he said.
Biden foreshadowed his first priority would be a federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, appealing for help from his liberal flank and those across the political aisle.
“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple times myself, but now, let’s give each other a chance,” he said.
Biden, the two-term vice president and 36-year U.S. senator from Delaware, was joined on stage by Sen. Kamala Harris, his running mate. The stage had been assembled since Election Day, which was five days ago.
“When our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, with the very soul of America at stake, and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for America,” Harris said in suffragette white after she walked out to Mary J. Blige and quoted the late Rep. John Lewis.
Specifically thanking black women, she continued, “You delivered a clear message: You chose hope and unity, decency and science, and yes, truth. You chose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States of America.”
Biden, if inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021, will be the oldest commander in chief to take the oath of office after he turns 78 on Nov. 20. Harris, the junior senator from California, would be the first woman and first minority woman to be vice president.
For his address, the Biden campaign gathered his largest crowd for an event since the coronavirus upended everyday life in March. Though many people weren’t socially distanced in between their vehicles parked side-by-side for the drive-in rally, most were wearing masks, waving American flags and illuminated tubes.
Biden’s apparent victory coincides with the anniversary of his initial election to the Senate 48 years ago to the day. He was with his family at his home in Wilmington when multiple outlets projected he had tentatively surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold, reached thanks to Pennsylvania, the state where he was born.
Trump’s campaign has unleashed a raft of lawsuits in the critical battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Staffers have also said recounts in Georgia and Wisconsin hang in the balance, given the narrow margins in those states.
Biden aides, however, have already begun the work of transition.
Biden is anticipated to announce his COVID-19 task force on Monday. Allies have outlined, too, how a Biden administration would initiate its legislative and regulatory agenda with a slew of executive orders, including rejoining the Paris climate agreement and reversing the Trump’s so-called Muslim ban.
