President Joe Biden vowed to work with Donald Trump to ensure a peaceful transition and urged the country to unite as he broke his silence on the election.
The 81-year-old commander in chief spoke with a smile from the White House Rose Garden Thursday afternoon at his first public appearance since Trump’s landslide victory in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The outgoing president told the nation to be positive and accept the devastating results for Democrats after his Vice President Kamala Harris ran an “inspiring campaign.”
Biden emerged from the Oval Office to applause from a crowd that included Cabinet members, staff and his granddaughter Finnegan and ran to the podium.
Concluding his remarks, he blew a kiss to the audience and insisted that his administration should be proud of its record.
‘I know it’s a difficult time. You are suffering. I hear you and I see you,’ he said.
‘A country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice that the country makes.
‘You can’t love your country only when you win. You cannot love your neighbor only when you agree.
‘A defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. But we can get up again,’ he added.
President Joe Biden promised to work with Donald Trump to ensure an orderly and peaceful transition by breaking his silence on the election.
He watched the results with family and close friends at the White House late Tuesday night, sitting in the residence as Republicans took control of the White House and the Senate. Control of the House of Representatives has not yet been determined.
Biden called both Harris and Trump on Wednesday. It also refers to Democrats who won elections to the House and Senate.
He congratulated Harris on her historic campaign and invited President-elect Trump to meet him at the White House.
He expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition to power.
But he had his own warning for the president-elect, speaking to him about “the importance of working to unite the country.”
Biden will attend Trump’s inauguration. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said before the election that Biden would attend the election, whoever won the presidency.
The 81-year-old commander in chief spoke from the White House Rose Garden Thursday afternoon in his first public appearance since Trump’s landslide victory.
Concluding his remarks, he blew a kiss to the audience and insisted that his administration should be proud of its record.
A devastated Kamala Harris told her dozens of tearful fans to keep fighting as she admitted election defeat to Donald Trump in Washington DC.
Donald Trump with his wife Melania and son Barron on election night
It is now Biden’s legacy as president bracketed by Trump’s terms.
He and his team will likely spend the three months leading up to Inauguration Day trying to shore up as many initiatives as they can: get more funding for Ukraine, push for a ceasefire in the Middle East and do everything they can to protect federal workers. , whom Trump has promised to attack.
Biden will also have to weigh which pardons he wants to grant, including whether he wants to grant one to his son Hunter.
Trump has been a harsh critic of Biden’s Justice Department and vowed retaliation for what he sees as the government’s unfair targeting of himself.
Trump spent his first day as president-elect fielding congratulatory phone calls from his defeated opponent, world leaders and Biden as he began the process of turning his election victory into an administration.
Harris formally acknowledged her campaign Wednesday with a public speech at her alma mater, Howard University.
The emotional vice president admitted that “this is not what we wanted” as she took the stage nearly 12 hours after the race was officially called for the former president.
Harris, however, also promised to help with the peaceful transfer of power, even as she said she would continue the battle after Trump’s dominant victory.
“While I recognize this election, I do not recognize the fight that fueled this campaign,” he said.
His voice shook at times as he addressed a massive crowd of supporters at his alma mater.
‘My heart is full today. Full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. Full of love for our country and full of determination,’ she said in her first appearance since voters rejected her vision of America.
“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, what we fought for, or what we voted for, but hear me when I say, hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always shine,” he said. .
