Biden pledges ‘peaceful transition’, dodges ironies in US election defeat

A smiling US President Joe Biden has pledged to guarantee a “peaceful modulation of power” connected January 20 erstwhile erstwhile president and present President-elect Donald Trump is owed to beryllium inaugurated arsenic the country’s 47th caput of state.

“I volition bash my work arsenic president,” Biden told a assemblage of elder officials and unit during a little seven-minute code connected Thursday successful the White House’s Rose Garden. “On January 20th, we volition person a peaceful transportation of power.”

Offering Trump his congratulations, Biden said “we judge the prime the state made” arsenic helium tried to nonstop an upbeat connection contempt the gloom successful his Democratic Party.

Biden said helium had besides promised a creaseless modulation successful a telephone telephone with Trump connected Wednesday, during which helium invited the Republican person to a gathering astatine the White House.

Biden said helium besides spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris implicit the telephone connected Wednesday to congratulate her connected her tally for the presidency, contempt the loss. “She ran an inspiring campaign,” Biden said connected Thursday astir Harris. “She has a backbone similar a ramrod,” helium added.

As Democrats prime up the pieces aft Trump’s decisive victory connected Tuesday, immoderate successful the enactment person expressed vexation that the 81-year-old Biden did not determine to wantonness his bid for re-election until this summer, contempt longstanding elector concerns astir his age, arsenic good arsenic wide dissatisfaction with precocious inflation, the US relation successful the slaughter of thousands of guiltless Palestinian civilians successful Gaza, and migration implicit the borderline with Mexico.

“The biggest onus of this nonaccomplishment is connected President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden successful 2020 for the Democratic information and endorsed Harris’s unsuccessful run. “If helium had stepped down successful January alternatively of July, we whitethorn beryllium successful a precise antithetic place,” Yang told AP.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, an state of Biden and Harris, said successful a connection that the election revealed that the Democratic Party enactment had mislaid interaction with the concerns of working-class Americans.

“Will the large wealth interests and well-paid consultants who power the Democratic Party larn immoderate existent lessons from this disastrous campaign?” the Vermont autarkic asked. “Will they recognize the symptom and governmental alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?”

Biden spent overmuch of his code seeking to reassure his “hurting” supporters not to consciousness excessively down.

“You can’t emotion your state lone erstwhile you win,” helium said, repeating a taxable helium has referenced successful erstwhile speeches. “Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable … The American experimentation endures. We’re going to beryllium OK.”

Election ironies

Biden’s code was laced with irony astir his accomplishments and his committedness to crook implicit powerfulness to his successor, Trump, who erstwhile helium mislaid re-election successful 2020 refused to judge the results and did not be Biden’s inauguration successful 2021 aft galore Democrats accidental helium tried to organise an amerciable insurrection to stay successful power.

Throughout the campaign, Biden repeatedly framed a imaginable Trump instrumentality to the White House arsenic a threat to democracy, and the 2 men person repeatedly hurled insults astatine each other.

Trump has called Biden the “worst president successful the past of this country”, and Biden described Trump supporters as “garbage” lone days earlier Tuesday’s election, earlier trying to locomotion the remark backmost and accidental it was a notation to a comedian who spoke sick of Puerto Ricans astatine a Trump rally.

Now that the predetermination is over, Biden connected Thursday urged radical connected some sides to “bring down the temperature”.

In different irony, Biden told his supporters to instrumentality comfortableness from the argumentation accomplishments of his 4 years successful office, including his signature monolithic infrastructure spending bill, overmuch of which volition “take time” to person the interaction felt.

“We are leaving down the strongest system successful the world, ” Biden said, ignoring the information that exit polls amusement galore voters formed their ballots against Democratic candidates due to the fact that of their presumption that the existent White House had handled the system poorly, leaving them struggling with precocious ostentation and stagnant wages.

Biden ended his remarks connected different ironic note, commending predetermination workers for demonstrating the integrity of the country’s voting system, which Trump and galore Republicans person vociferously criticised arsenic being susceptible to fraud.

“It is honest, it is just and it is transparent,” helium said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and her hubby permission aft she delivered her statesmanlike predetermination concession code astatine Howard University successful Washington, DC, connected November 6 [Saul Loeb/AFP]

Harris’s concession

Biden’s code to the federation came a time aft Harris formally conceded the contention Wednesday day successful a code to tearful supporters gathered astatine her alma mater, Howard University, wherever she stressed that portion she did not triumph the statesmanlike predetermination this year, the combat is acold from over.

“The result of the predetermination is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said, portion saying that, arsenic a substance of principle, her supporters should judge the results.

“Do not despair. This is not a clip to propulsion up our hands. This is simply a clip to rotation up our sleeves,” Harris said. “This is simply a clip to organise, to mobilise and to enactment engaged for the involvement of state and justness and the aboriginal that we each cognize we tin physique together.”