in his victory speech, Joe Biden promises to “heal” America
President-elect Joe Biden, during his address to the nation, in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 7. KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS
A Joe Biden transfigured by victory appeared before the United States on Saturday evening, November 7. The oldest elected president, 77, was declared the winner in the decisive state of Pennsylvania late in the morning, and that success opened the doors to the White House after a vote count as long as serene.
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Unique but significant departure from an established ritual, Joe Biden had not received as usual a call from his opponent, outgoing President Donald Trump, in which the latter would have admitted his defeat. On the contrary, the latter clung to challenges to the results recorded since November 3, assuring on his Twitter account that he won the election, against all evidence. Saturday night, in his town of Wilmington (Delaware), the Democrat ignored it. He did not even mention the behavior of the one he will succeed on January 20.
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The former vice-president, after forty-seven years in public life, has shown himself in his revolutionary way. Throughout his campaign, he did not stop talking about unity, hammering out repeated formulas on Saturday night: the promise to be “A president who unites and not who divides”, or the invitation to his fellow citizens not to treat their “Opponents as enemies”. “I will work as hard for those who did not vote for me, as for those who chose me”, he recalled.
Joe Biden kisses his grandson, after addressing the nation from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 7. WIN MCNAMEE / AFP
He insisted on this path on Saturday, wishing that it would end “This dark era of demonization in America, and that it ends here and now”. “The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with each other is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control. It’s a decision. It is a choice that we make. And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I think that’s part of the mandate of the American people. They want us to cooperate. This is the choice I will make. And I call on Congress – Democrats and Republicans – to make this choice with me ”, assured the elected president.
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“It’s time to listen to yourself again”
After four years of extreme polarization, this choice of the outstretched hand was regularly criticized during the campaign. Joe Biden had to ensure not to be “Naive”, or live in the bygone days of his years in the Senate, when compromise was not synonymous with compromise.
