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Former presidents and politicians from both major parties chimed in to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory over Donald Trump, with Democrats eager to turn the page in four years of tumult and some Republicans offering prayers and best wishes while hinting at the partisan fight to come.
Biden was declared the winner of Pennsylvania on Saturday, pushing him over the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency after days of uncertainty as election officials counted an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has refused to budge.
“In this election, in never-before-seen circumstances, Americans turned out in numbers never seen before,” Barack Obama said in a statement praising his former vice president and Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris. “And once every vote is counted, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will have won a historic and decisive victory.”
Obama implored Americans to stay active, urging them not to see Biden’s election as the end after four years of protests and action, but to see it as a stepping stone in their quest for progress.
“Enjoy this moment,” he continued. “So stay committed. I know it can be exhausting. But for this democracy to last, it requires our active citizenship and a sustained focus on issues, not just in an election season, but every day in between. “
Former President Jimmy Carter, who lost his re-election bid by landslide victory over Ronald Reagan in 1980, congratulated the Democratic nomination, which may be the first to win his home state of Georgia in more than a quarter century.
“We are proud of your well-run campaign and look forward to seeing the positive change you bring to our nation,” he said in a statement.
Shortly after Biden was secured in Pennsylvania, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Biden to congratulate him. According to one attendee, it was a “happy call.” Schumer, who had joined the revelers in Brooklyn, held up his phone for Biden to hear their cheers and applause.
“Today marks the dawn of a new day of hope for America,” Pelosi said in a statement. “A record 75 million Americans cast their votes to elect Joe Biden as president of the United States, a historic victory that has given Democrats a mandate for action.”
House Democrats will retain their majority, but Pelosi is on track to lead the slimmest majority in decades after suffering unexpected losses. The majority of the Senate will almost certainly be decided by a pair of runoff elections in Georgia in January.
Republicans appeared torn Saturday between accepting the new president-elect and supporting Trump.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who did not vote for Trump, congratulated Biden and Harris, praising them as “people of goodwill and admirable character.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander, a retiring Republican from Tennessee, urged Trump to follow more than two centuries of precedent and accept the election result.
“After counting all valid votes and allowing the courts to resolve disputes, it is important to quickly respect and accept the result,” he wrote.
Like Trump, many of his closest allies were unwilling to accept the outcome, at least not yet.
“The media cannot determine who the president is. People do it, ”Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican who is seen as having presidential ambitions, wrote on Twitter. “When all the legal votes have been counted, the recounts have been completed and the fraud allegations have been addressed, we will know who the winner is.”
