Biden pledges to end ‘grim era of demonization in America’

Wilmington, US, Nov 7 (efe-epa).- President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday pledged to unite the deeply divided United States of America mired in crises due to the coronavirus pandemic, an economic recession, and racial unrest.

“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify, who does not see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden said in his acceptance speech to the nation as president-elect.

“I ran as a proud Democrat. I will now be an American president. I will work as hard for those who did not vote for me – as those who did. Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end – here and now.”

He made the speech hours after finally being projected as president-elect and is set to become the 46th president of the US.

The 77-year-old former vice president and longtime senator crossed the winning threshold of 270 Electoral College votes when he took Pennsylvania after over three days of uncertainty and delay in counting a surge of mail ballots.

President Donald Trump has, however, refused to concede and threatened legal actions on ballot counting.

But Biden struck a conciliatory note and addressed supporters of Trump, telling them: “Let us give each other a chance.”

He said the trust and confidence the American voters had placed in him had humbled him.

“The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for ‘We the People,’” Biden said.

He said he believed that the people of the US had handed him a mandate to “marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness, the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.”

Among his priorities, Biden outlined plans to launch a Covid-19 task force on Monday that would shape up into an action plan on the proposals he had unveiled during the campaign for dealing with the pandemic that has infected 9.8 million people killed over 237,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

“I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris Covid plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021.”

He said the plan would be built “on a bedrock of science” and would be “constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern.”

His running mate Kamala Harris, who made history as the first Black woman to become vice president, introduced Biden at their victory celebration as “a president for all Americans.”

Harris, also the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government and the first South Asian elected to the vice presidency, said her achievement was witness to a fact that ”this is a country of possibilities.”

“Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they have never seen it before,” the California senator said in her speech.

“You chose hope, unity, decency, science, and, yes, truth. You chose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States of America. Joe is a healer. A uniter. A tested and steady hand.”

The two spoke to their supporters, who had gathered in cars for the drive-in rally, an innovative way of campaigning to maintain social distance in the times of the pandemic.

As they ended their speeches, the cars began to honk their horns amid a colorful display of fireworks lighting up the night sky.

The display included the Biden logo spelled out with drone lights and with the US map drawn with lights even as Biden and Harris watched with awe from the stage with their families. EFE-EPA