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President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris addressed the nation for the first time since several news outlets called the election in their favor on Saturday morning.
Introducing Biden from a stage in Wilmington, Del., Harris, who will make history as the first woman vice president and first vice president of Black and South Asian descent, opened with a quote from Rep. John Lewis, the longtime congressman and civil rights leader who died in July. “Congressman John Lewis, before his passing, wrote, ‘Democracy is not a state, it is an act,’” she said. “And what he meant was that America’s democracy is not guaranteed.”
“It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it, to guard it and never take it for granted,” she continued. “And protecting our democracy takes struggle.”
Harris also spoke to the historic nature of the moment. “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.”
Speaking of her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, Harris said, “When she came here from India at the age of 19, maybe she didn’t quite imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. So, I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black Women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.”
When Biden took the stage, he echoed the message of unity from his Friday night speech, promising to govern for all Americans. “I’m humbled by the trust and confidence you placed in me,” Biden said. “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states only sees the United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people. For that is what America is about: the people. And that is what our administration will be about.”
Biden also praised the diverse coalition that helped elect him. “I’m proud of the coalition we put together—the broadest and most diverse coalition in history,” he said. “Democrats, Republicans, independents, progressives, moderates, conservatives, young, old, urban, suburban, rural, gay, straight, transgender, white, Latino, Asian, Native American.”
He then paused to acknowledge the Black community for their support and hard work to win the election. “Especially those moments when this campaign was at his lowest end, the African-American community stood up again for me. You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours,” he said.
Concluding, Biden once again called for the country to come together. “With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country—and a thirst for justice—let us be the nation that we know we can be. A nation united. A nation strengthened. A nation healed. The United States of America.”
As of Saturday evening, President Trump had yet to concede, despite multiple media outlets calling the election for Biden. And the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said in Philadelphia on Saturday that Trump will not concede anytime soon. “Obviously he’s not going to concede when at least 600,000 ballots are in question,” Giuliani said, adding later that the president will only concede once he has exhausted all of his legal options. Thus far Trump has produced zero evidence of widespread voter fraud.
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