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President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a celebratory event held outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, on November 7, 2020. Biden this week comfortably surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes required to cement the choice. (Photo: EPA-EFE / ANDREW HARNIK / POOL)
On Monday morning the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were delivered in the US, and in the afternoon, the Electoral College vote confirmed Biden as the winner of the 2020 elections. Following the result, the president Elect told the United States that “democracy prevailed.”
Biden passed 270 votes and California cast its 55 votes for him just after 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday, December 14. This put the Democratic challenger firmly above the 270 margin needed to win the election.
Americans had a great Monday, with the delivery of the first vaccines at 145 sites across the country and the confirmation of the election victory of President-elect Joseph Biden by the US Electoral College.
See CNN’s easy guide to what the Electoral College is and how it works, here: electoral college step by step guide.
Despite expectations of massive protests from supporters of President Donald Trump in the legislative chambers, the vote passed peacefully and the police outnumbered protesters in states where they did demonstrate.
Voting started at 10 a.m. and went smoothly. Trump’s fight to overturn the results in the states of Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin was in vain, as they all cast their electoral votes for Biden.
The next step in the process is to send the votes to Congress to be counted next month. After the vote, Republican Senate leaders recognized Biden as president-elect, with the whip of the Senate majority. John Thune saying; “Once the Electoral College solves the problem today, it is time for everyone to move on.”
Trump for most of the day appeared to ignore the vote, taking to Twitter in the morning to erroneously congratulate the US and the world on “First vaccine administered …”
First vaccine administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
The tweet was met with an avalanche of responses referring to the president to the fact that the UK and other countries had already started administering Covid-19 vaccines.
The rest of Trump’s tweets continued alleging “Massive Voter FRAUD” and “Massive Fraud.” Choice change result! ”
Minutes after the Electoral College result confirming Biden’s victory, Trump tweeted that Attorney General William Barr resigned: “Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family …”
I just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been very good, he has done an excellent job! According to the letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family …
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
Trump was unhappy with Barr, who earlier this month said the Justice Department had found no evidence of voter fraud. Barr told the media that “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have had a different result …”
President-elect Biden, speaking after the Electoral College vote announcement, said: In the United States, when questions are raised about the legitimacy of any election, those questions are resolved through the legal process. And that is precisely what happened here. “
Biden’s measured conduct made his harsh rebuke of Trump’s many failed legal challenges even more difficult:
“The Trump campaign brought dozens and dozens and dozens of legal challenges to prove the result. They were heard over and over again. And each of the times they were heard was considered without merit … they were heard by more than 80 judges throughout the country and in all cases no cause or evidence was found to reverse, question or dispute the results.
“Some states went for counts, all counts were confirmed. The results in Georgia were counted three times, they did not change the result. The recount in Wisconsin actually saw our margin grow … The courts sent a clear signal to President Trump that they would not be part of an unprecedented assault on our democracy. “
Biden said that respecting the will of the people is at the heart of American democracy and repeated his campaign message that he would be a president “for all Americans. I will work just as hard for those of you who did not vote for me as for those who did. We have urgent work ahead … “
Biden said urgency and hard work are required to ensure the vaccine reaches all Americans and mitigate the hardships faced by people in need of financial help.
He also highlighted the fact that the United States surpassed 300,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Monday:
“I know the task before us will not be easy … today our nation passed a grim milestone, 300,000 deaths due to this Covid virus. My heart goes out to each of you in this dark winter of the pandemic … My heart goes out to all of you who have been through difficult times through no fault of your own … I know we will get through this, but together. “
President Donald Trump is expected to leave the White House and hand over power to President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. DM
An Wentzel is Night Editor, a specialist reporter for the Daily Maverick, she went to the United States to visit her family when the pandemic struck and is currently abandoned in the land of the ‘free’.
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