Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump to become US President: “It’s time for America to unite and heal”

A victory in Pennsylvania gave Biden the 270 electoral college votes needed to take the White House

Joe Biden has defeated Donald Trump to become the 46th President of the United States, according to projected vote totals.

A victory in the state of Pennsylvania gave Biden the 270 electoral college votes he needed to take the White House.

AP, The Guardian, BBC, CNN and even the Trump-supporting Fox have now all called the race, with results in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and more all yet to be confirmed.

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In a short statement posted to Twitter, Biden promised to serve all Americans regardless of their political affiliations. “America, I’m honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” he wrote.

“The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”

In another statement given to the media, the President-elect added: “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.

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“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.”

Trump has also issued a statement, claiming the election is “far from over”.

“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over.”

Trump went on to claim that Biden had not been “certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states” where there could be recounts or that his administration plans to mount legal challenges. He also announced that Monday (November 9) will see the Trump campaign “start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated”.

“The American people are entitled to an honest election,” he said. “That means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election.

“Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access. So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”

Since election night on Tuesday (November 3), votes have continued to trickle in from states around the country, with Biden claiming wins in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin.

Yesterday (November 6), Biden took the lead in key states Georgia and Pennsylvania,

Sitting on 253 electoral college votes, the 20 votes in Pennsylvania took his total to 273, surpassing the amount needed to take the Presidency.

This is all likely to be subject to pending legal challenges. Donald Trump has continued to voice his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, accusing the Democrats of voting “shenanigans” during a White House press conference yesterday.

Speaking last night, Trump alleged that he would be “easily winning” if only the “legal votes” were counted from Tuesday’s election. “If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he claimed. “If you count the illegal votes they can try to steal the election from us.”

The Trump campaign has not presented any evidence of election fraud to back up their claims, other than by alleging irregularities.

“We were winning in all the key locations, by a lot actually, and then our numbers started getting miraculously whittled away in secret and they wouldn’t allow legally permissible observers,” the President added. “There’s been a lot of shenanigans, and we can’t stand for that in our country.”

This is a developing story…

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