Major news outlets including BBC, Reuters, CNN, NBC projected that Biden won the key battleground of Pennsylvania to have more than the required 270 Electoral College vote to unseat the incumbent President, Donald Trump.
“I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together,” Biden said in a statement.
Moments after Joe Biden was projected to be the victor in the 2020 election, President Trump accused the Democrat of “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” and vowed to go forward with lawsuits contesting results in some states.
The statement read: “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated,” Trump said in a statement.
“The American people are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots,” Trump said.
“It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters,” Trump added.
“Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.”
Celebration Galore
Meanwhile thousands of Americans despite the increasing daily figures of coronavirus cases in the country took to the street including outside the White House, Trump Towers New York to celebrate the win.
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump during the 2016 presidential election, congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, “It’s a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America,” she tweeted.
Also, Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement said Americans elected a leader ready on Day One to finally begin to crush the coronavirus so that the schools and economy could safely reopen.
Pelosi, who had been at loggerheads with President Trump said, “in President-elect Biden, they have elected a unifier who values faith, family and community, and who will work tirelessly to heal our nation. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris won with a strong margin, and they will have a strong Democratic House Majority by their side. Working together, we have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress for the people.”
Also, world leaders, including Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel; UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau have sent congratulatory messages to President-elect Joe Biden.
Trudeau in a statement said he looked forward to working with the president-elect, his vice president and their administration in tackling the world’s greatest challenges including climate action.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulates Biden and Harris, saying that Biden’s contributions to the relationship between the U.S. and India were “critical and invaluable.”
Buhari congratulates Biden, seeks greater engagement with Africa
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated former Vice President Joe Biden on his election as new President of the United States.
President Buhari, in a statement issued on Saturday night, called on Mr. Biden “to introduce greater engagement with Africa on the basis of reciprocal respects and shared interests.”
In a democracy, the most powerful group are not the politicians, but voters who can decide the fate of the politicians at the polling booth. The main fascination of democracy is the freedom of choice and the supremacy of the will of the people.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) November 7, 2020
Buhari, while speaking on international affairs, urged the President-elect to “deploy your vast experience in tackling the negative consequences of nationalist politics on world affairs which have created divisions, conflicts and uncertainties.”
The President, who said he was elected “at a time of uncertainty and fear in world affairs”, said: “your election is a significant reminder that democracy is the best form of government because it offers the people the opportunity to change their government by peaceful means.”
According to President Buhari, “the most powerful group are not the politicians, but voters who can decide the fate of the politicians at the polling booth.”
He said that “the main fascination of democracy is the freedom of choice and the supremacy of the will of the people.”
He added that “respect for the will of the people is the very reason why democracy remains the best form of government, despite its limitations from one polity to another, and from one society to another.”
According to him, “I am thrilled by the fact that you are an experienced politician who had served as Congressman for 40 years and a Vice President for eight years. This is a remarkable track record that gives us hope that you will add value to the presidency and world affairs.”
President Buhari said that “with your election, we look forward to greater cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, especially at economic, diplomatic and political levels, including the war against terrorism.”
It’s victory of good over evil – Obasanjo
A former Nigeria President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has described the US election as a “victory of good over evil.”
He urged President-elect Biden to restore confidence in the role of America as the largest economy in the world which “has a very significant responsibility for the peace, security, stability and progress of the world.”
“It is a victory of good over evil and it is not victory for you and the people of America alone, but victory for most people of the world, the majority of whom watch helplessly as the world that had been steadily and painstakingly built since the end of the Second World War was being pulled down.
“Not that the world was perfect and equitable but it was reasonably predictable with some measure of rule of law and respect for international agreements and treaties,” he said.
Also, former Nigeria’s vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, via his verified Twitter handle @atiku congratulated president-elect Biden, adding that he looks forward to the age-long collaboration of our two nations in the course of the advancement of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all peoples.
Nigeria and the United States are two nations, united by a common language. Indeed, the first major trip by the leader of an Independent Nigeria was the July 25, 1961, White House visit of the golden voice of Africa, the late Sir Tafawa Balewa, under President John F Kennedy.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) November 7, 2020
“In electing a man rich in experience, the great people of the United States have done the world a great service and I also look forward to your global leadership in the war on terror, and partnership with Nigeria to end the terror and poverty-related insecurities that we face,” he said.
Also, the minister of state Labour, Festus Keyamo, said “the time has come to give our women the chance to occupy such a high office in our country and even the number one position.”
An election of many ‘firsts’
The US presidential election is with several record-breaking events. Vice President-elect Harris becomes the first female, first black, and first Asian vice president in the US.
Harris continues her record-breaking triumphs in American politics having previously been elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general.
Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, will be the first man and first Jewish person to serve as a spouse to a president or vice president.
While the result makes Mr. Trump the first one-term president since the 1990s, the election has seen the highest turnout since 1900.
Biden has won more than 75 million votes so far, the most ever for a US presidential candidate. Mr Trump has drawn almost 70 million, the second-highest tally in history. Biden will beat the record of Trump as the oldest president as he heads to the White House, where he served for eight years as Vice President during the administration of President Barack Obama, at 78.
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