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The Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden as the next president of the United States on Monday, ratifying his November victory in an authorized state-by-state repudiation of outgoing President Donald Trump’s refusal to admit he had lost.
Presidential voters gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, the same margin that Trump bragged was overwhelming when he won the White House four years ago.
In some states, there was increased security when voters met to cast their votes on paper.
The results will be sent to Washington and accounted for in a joint session of Congress on January 6, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence.
Despite all of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud, there was little suspense and no change, as each of the electoral votes assigned to Biden and the president in last month’s popular vote was officially for every man.
On Election Day, the Democrat topped the incumbent Republican by more than 7 million in the popular vote nationwide.
California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden on top. Vermont, with three votes, was the first state to report. Hawaii, with four votes, was last.
“Once again in the United States, the rule of law, our Constitution and the will of the people have prevailed. Our democracy, driven, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient, true and strong, ”Biden said in an evening address highlighting the size of his victory and the record 81 million people who voted for him.
He renewed his campaign promise to be a president for all Americans, whether they vote for him or not, and said the country has a lot of work ahead of it on the virus and the economy.
But there was no concession from the White House, where Trump has continued to make unsubstantiated fraud accusations.
Trump stayed in the Oval Office long after sunset in Washington, calling out fellow Republicans and allies while keeping track of the Electoral College tally, according to the White House and campaign aides.
The president frequently wandered into the private dining room in front of the Oval Office to watch television, complaining that cable networks were treating him like a mini election night without giving his challenges airtime.
The president had been increasingly disappointed with the size of the “Stop the Steal” rallies across the country, as well as the efforts of the Republican Party to present its own voters lists in the states.
A presidential desire for fierce defense of the administration led to early Monday television appearances by Stephen Miller, one of its fiercest advocates, to try to downplay the importance of the Electoral College vote and suggest that Trump’s legal challenges would continue. until the end. Inauguration Day on January 20.
At the end of the day, he took to Twitter to announce that Attorney General William Barr would be leaving the administration before Christmas.
Barr’s departure comes amid persistent tension over Trump’s unsubstantiated fraud allegations, especially after Barr’s statement to The Associated Press this month that the election results were unaffected by any fraud.
In a Fox News interview recorded over the weekend, Trump said that “I am concerned that the country has an illegitimate president, that’s what worries me. A president who lost and lost badly. “
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