The US will have a peaceful transfer of power next January, but until then the Democrats intend to make the best of their time in power, President Joe Biden has said.
Biden spoke at the White House on Thursday afternoon, following the election that saw Vice President Kamala Harris decisively lose to Republican Donald Trump.
“We accept the choice the country made,” Biden said. “You can’t love your country only when you win.”
Biden added that he called Trump and assured him his entire administration would work with his team “to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition.”
“On January 20, we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power here in America,” the sitting president said.
Addressing his staff, Biden said “it’s going to be OK” and that they have been a part of a “truly historic presidency” whose full impact will be felt in the coming years because of all the laws that have been enacted.
“Together we’ve changed America for the better. Now we have 74 days to finish the term, our term. Let’s make every day count,” Biden said.
According to Biden, this election proved that the US election system is honest, fair, transparent and trustworthy, hinting at Republican criticism of the 2020 election that delivered him a historically anomalous victory over Trump.
Biden urged the victorious Republicans to “bring down the temperature” and “see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.” He had repeatedly called Trump a danger to democracy itself, while Harris compared her rival to Adolf Hitler.
Harris has “great character” and ran a good campaign, Biden said, noting he called her on Wednesday before her concession speech.
Biden was pressured to drop out of the race in July, and Harris became the Democrats’ presidential nominee without having to face the primary process. She inherited Biden’s campaign funds and enjoyed a surge of popularity after the party convention.
Harris was named Biden’s running mate in 2020 as part of a deal with top Democrats to secure support for his nomination. She had campaigned for the top job herself, but dropped out before the first primaries due to a lack of funds and interest from the party base.
The Biden-Harris ticket officially received 81 million votes in 2020, in a surprise defeat for Trump’s reelection bid. Harris-Walz received almost 68 million votes this time around, to Trump’s 72.5 million.