The three days of uncertainty is finally over: Democrat Joe Biden will lead the United States of America for the next four years. His Republican rival Donald Trump has refused to concede, saying that Biden is “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and threatening legal action on ballot counting.
Biden’s victory came after the state of Pennsylvania – a swing state – was called for him on November 7. After three days of uncertainty, the election officials finally sorted out through a surge of mail-in ballots – Biden won the state’s 20 electoral votes, pushing his count well above the required electoral college of 270.
Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania was the final piece of the puzzle to fall in place. Biden recaptured Democrats’ “blue wall” by winning all three of the battleground states – Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan – that Trump narrowly won in 2016, becoming the 45th president of America.
Biden also became the first Democratic candidate to win Arizona since 1996 He also held a significant 7000 vote deal in Georgia, a state where a Democrat hasn’t won since 1992.
Donald Trump, however, is not satisfied with the elections and has repeatedly threatened legal action against the election system. Shortly after Biden’s victory, Trump made a public statement, claiming that the “election is far from over.” He said that Biden has not been certified as the winner of “any states”, let alone the crucial swing states like Pennsylvania. Trump said that their legal observers were not allowed access to watch the counting process. “Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.”
President-elect Joe Biden in a media statement said that: “I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and Vice President-elect Harris.” He said that now that the election is over, it is time for America and the Americans to leave the “harsh rhetoric” behind them and move forward and unite as a nation. “It’s time for America to unite. And to heal.”
Donald Trump, once again claimed victory in a tweet on Saturday, minutes before the announcement of Biden’s victory. He had also declared victory earlier on Wednesday morning, arguing that he was ahead and “it’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s close.’”
Trump repeatedly attacked the American election system, urging his supporters to vote in person and do not put their faith in absentee ballots. Trump’s urgings, in a sense, were the force behind the exhausting delay in the announcement of the next president of the United States.
Kamala Harris, the Vice President-elect of the US, became the first black, Indian-American woman to be elected the vice-president of America. The 56-year old Californian Senator will be the highest-ranking woman ever elected in the American government.
Biden and Harris will be sworn in as President and Vice President on Jan 20, 2021.