WILMINGTON (Delaware, US), Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President-elect Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump with his strongest criticism since the election, saying the Republican had defied the constitution and the “will of the people” in not accepting the results.
“It’s a position so extreme we’ve never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honor our constitution,” Biden said in a speech that came after the Electoral College formally confirmed his victory.
The Electoral College vote, typically a formality, assumed outsized significance in light of President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to subvert the process due to what he has falsely alleged was widespread voter fraud in the Nov 3 election.
Some Trump supporters had called for protests on social media, and election officials had expressed concern about the potential for violence amid the president’s heated rhetoric. But Monday’s vote proceeded smoothly, with no major disruptions.
California, the most-populous US state, put Biden over the 270 votes needed to win the Electoral College when its 55 electors unanimously cast ballots for him and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Biden and Harris – the first woman, first black person and first Asian American to become vice president-elect – will be sworn in on Jan 20.
Biden earned 306 electoral votes in November compared with 232 for Trump.
“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago,” Biden said in his speech to mark his Electoral College victory. “And we now know that nothing – not even a pandemic – or an abuse of power – can extinguish that flame.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed.”
Biden was referring to a Republican lawsuit, supported by Trump, that sought to overturn Biden’s wins in several key states, but which was rejected by the Supreme Court last Friday.
Biden praised voters for turning out in record numbers despite fears of Covid-19 and “enormous political pressure, verbal abuse and even threats of physical violence” against those running the elections.
“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that,” Biden said.
“It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election,” Biden said, calling the harassment of officials “unconscionable.”
Biden said that Trump has had full opportunity to contest the results in court and “in every case no cause or evidence was found to reverse or question or dispute.”
Biden lashed out at the Republican party for standing behind Trump’s evidence-free claims of mass fraud. But he said the Supreme Court last week sent “a clear signal.”
Following the Electoral College vote, Biden said, “it’s time to turn the page.”
“I’m convinced we can work together for the good of the nation,” he said.
Under a complicated system dating back to the 1780s, a candidate becomes US president not by winning the popular vote but through the Electoral College system, which allots electoral votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on congressional representation. — NNN-AGENCIES
