Joe Biden Speaks out After Being Projected as President-Elect

11/07/2020 02:41 pm EST

Former Vice President Joe Biden sent out a public message to all Americans on Saturday after The Associated Press and other news outlets projected him as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. While there are still more votes to count and legal processes to go through, Biden is most likely the new President-elect of the United States, and his message was a call for unity in the weeks to come.

"I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris," Biden wrote. "In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America. With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It's time for America to united. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do, if we do it together."

Biden's message was posted on his website and went out to his mailing list, and it made its way around social media as well. Many commenters were grateful for his calm, even tone, as the election remains a divisive issue for Americans everywhere.

Meanwhile, Biden's opponent, President Donald Trump, lashed out at the Biden campaign and the news outlets that projected him as the winner. Trump's message was full of accusations and claims of voter fraud, all with no evidence whatsoever.

"Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the court room — and then fight in court to block their access," he claimed. "So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands."

Still, the Trump campaign's legal actions to seek recounts and challenge the counting of votes in various states will be carried out, and the remainder of the votes will be counted. To win, the candidates need a minimum of 270 votes in the electoral college, and when Biden was counted as the winner in that state, he reached a total of 273 in the CBS News projection.

Biden's plan for the presidency centers heavily on the coronavirus pandemic, which he believes he can tackle more effectively than his predecessor. According to the AP, Biden promises "a big government response, akin to what Franklin D. Roosevelt oversaw with the New Deal during the Depression of the 1930s." Whether he will be able to enact a plan on that scale depends largely on the cooperation of the United States Senate, which still has no projected winner for the majority party.

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