President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris address the nation
Sydney Kalich, Haley Townsend, and Char'Nese Turner
(NewsNation Now) — Democrat Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, according to the Associated Press.
President-elect Biden addressed the nation from Wilmington, Delaware with Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff.
Biden said Saturday that becoming the president-elect is the honor of his life.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take the stage at the Chase Center to address the nation November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, stand with their spouses, Dr. Jill Biden and Douglas Emhoff, after addressing the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take the stage at the Chase Center to address the nation November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks on stage at the Chase Center before President-elect Joe Biden’s address to the nation November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks on stage at the Chase Center before President-elect Joe Biden’s address to the nation November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden gestures toward crowd at the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden and Jill Biden wave to the crowd after Biden’s address to the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks on stage at the Chase Center before President-elect Joe Biden’s address to the nation November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – NOVEMBER 07: President-elect Joe Biden hugs grand child on stage after Biden’s address to the nation from the Chase Center November 07, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. After four days of counting the high volume of mail-in ballots in key battleground states due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race was called for Biden after a contentious election battle against incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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“Tonight we’re seeing all over this nation an outpouring of joy, faith, and a renewed hope in tomorrow,” Biden said.
The President-elect said now is the time to heal in America. Biden said he hopes to unite the nation and “make America respected around the world again.”
He pledged his support to all American people and vowed to always work in their best interests.
Biden said his work begins with getting COVID-19 under control.
“On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021. That plan will be built on a bedrock of science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern.”
pRESident-ELECT jOE bIDEN
Vice President-elect Harris echoed the president-elect’s sentiments on uniting the country and forging a brighter future.
“You chose hope, unity, decency, science, and, yes, truth,” Harris said. “No matter who you voted for, I will strive to be the Vice President that Joe was to President Obama — loyal, honest, and prepared, waking up every day thinking of you and your families.”
Harris addressed her historic election, as the first woman, first Black woman, and Asian American woman to become vice president, and promised it won’t be the last.
“But while I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” Harris said.
In her speech, she thanked her family and honored her mother and all the women who “paved the way for this moment.”
Biden won Pennsylvania, securing the necessary Electoral College votes to clinch the presidency, according to the Associated Press who called the Keystone State for Biden on Saturday.
The Associated Press also called Nevada for Biden Saturday. The Silver State offers 6 electoral votes.
With Nevada and Pennsylvania, Biden has 290 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 214 electoral votes as of AP’s latest race call.
As of 1:40 p.m. EST, Biden had a lead of .51% over Trump. In Pennsylvania, a recount is automatic if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point.
The battleground state’s decision to greatly expand mail-in voting caused the delay in ballot-counting.
Trump, who held a 675,000-vote lead in the Keystone State early Wednesday, prematurely declared victory.
“We’re winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount. We’re up 690,000 votes in Pennsylvania. These aren’t even close. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s close,’” Trump said during an appearance at the White House.
By Wednesday afternoon, Trump’s lead had slipped down to 326,000. And by Thursday morning, his lead was down to 136,000. By 10:45 p.m. Thursday, the lead shrunk to 26,132 as mail in ballots from across the state continued to be counted. The late counted ballots were overwhelmingly in Biden’s favor, allowing the former vice president to take the lead Friday morning well before the AP called the state for Biden.
One reason: Under state law, elections officials are not allowed to process mail-in ballots until Election Day. It’s a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
Trump’s campaign and Republicans are already mounting legal challenges in several states, although most are small-scale lawsuits that do not appear to affect many votes.
