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Joe Biden has reached out directly to supporters of Donald Trump, calling for each side to give the other a fresh start, in his first address to the nation as president-elect.
Four years after Barack Obama’s vice president watched from the White House as Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in a contest in which he believed he should have been the Democratic Party candidate, the 77-year-old sought to combine celebration with humility. , in a speech in Delaware.
This was a time when the man first elected to the Senate in Delaware in 1972 had sought to win three times, and did not seek to downplay what his victory meant to him or his supporters.
It also did nothing more than highlight the landmark and momentous achievement of Kamala Harris, who will not only be the first female vice president of the United States, but also the first woman of color on a major party list.
However, his speech was one that was well adapted to the nation’s turbulent and troubled times. More than 230,000 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus, which has infected nearly 10 million people, and their livelihoods and families have been devastated.
The elections themselves have also forced the nation to endure further hardship, faced as it has been, by one of the ugliest and most covert political campaigns of the modern era.
Biden has said a lot about that toxicity before, and he will certainly do it again, and others will be quick to blame it.
Yet on Saturday night, speaking to people he had said had made him dance, a lively and joyous team from the city, as well as visitors who had traveled across the country, focused on putting a stop to that. .
The couple said they had already started work.
(Getty)
“For those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I myself have lost a couple of elections, ”he said.
But now, let’s give ourselves a chance. It is time to put aside the harsh rhetoric. Lower the temperature. To see us again. “
He added: “Listen to us again. To progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.”
The man whose first wife and daughter died in a car accident shortly after his first Senate election, and whose eldest son, Beau, died of a rare form of cancer, has never been in the highest ranks of political speakers.
Sometimes he murmurs, sometimes he stumbles, sometimes he loses his train of thought. Yet while Trump tried to poke fun at Biden for such traits and quirks, they are marked with an authenticity that many find appealing.
He does not have the charisma of Obama, the style and magnetism of Harris. Many will have chuckled seeing the vice president go on stage to meet the vice president-elect. However, they will have done it with enthusiasm.
“I am humbled by the trust you have placed in me. I promise to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify, ”he said.
“Who does not see the Red and Blue states, but the United States. And that I will work with all my heart to earn the trust of all the people ”.
New Yorkers celebrate Trump’s defeat in front of his Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue
He added: “Because that’s what America is all about: the people. And that’s what our administration will be about ”.
Biden entered the White House race as a moderate within the Democratic Party, and someone with a far from flawless track record on race relations. He had been a champion of the 1994 Crime Act that demonized communities of color. He opposed the forced integration of the schools and will be remembered for the pain he did to Anita Hill, a woman of color who claimed to have been the subject of sexual advances from Clarance Thomas, a judge whose confirmation before the Supreme Court, was overseeing Mr. Biden. .
Many of these darker moments were examined during the campaign, perhaps more strongly, by Harris himself. Biden didn’t deny any of that. He just hoped he and others could learn from it.
Progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went so far as to suggest that if she and Biden lived in any country other than the United States, they would not be in the same political party.
Since Saturday, it seemed like he hadn’t forgotten those lessons.
“And to all those who supported us: I am proud of the campaign that we built and executed. I am proud of the coalition that we form, the widest and most diverse in history, “he said.
“Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Progressive, moderate and conservative. Young and old. Urban, suburban and rural. Gay, straight, transgender. White. Latin. Asian. Native American.”
He added: “And especially for those times when this campaign was at an all-time low, the African American community came back to defend me. They always support me and I will have yours. “
In fact, the only thing missing was a few words of grace from the man he will replace in the Oval Office.
Trump has not yet relented. On Saturday, he spent the day playing golf, issued a statement saying he could be legally contesting Biden’s victory, and then began posting angry tweets from the golf course when he got home, allegedly turning on the television, and getting angry at the celebrations. that he witnessed. for Mr. Biden’s victory.
For now, that part of the process will have to wait another day.
