Biden promises ‘peaceful transition’, avoids ironies in US election defeat | 2024 US Election News

A smiling US President Joe Biden has promised to ensure a “peaceful transition of power” on January 20, when former President and now President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the country’s 47th head of state.

“I will do my duty as president,” Biden told a crowd of senior officials and staff during a brief seven-minute speech Thursday in the White House’s Rose Garden. “On January 20, we will have a peaceful transfer of power.”

Biden offered his congratulations to Trump, saying “we accept the choice the country made,” as he sought to send an optimistic message despite the gloom in his Democratic Party.

Biden said he had also promised a smooth transition in a phone call with Trump on Wednesday, inviting the Republican leader to a meeting at the White House.

Biden said he also spoke to Vice President Kamala Harris by phone Wednesday to congratulate her on her run for the presidency, despite the loss. “She ran an inspiring campaign,” Biden said Thursday of Harris. “She has a backbone like a ramrod,” he added.

As Democrats pick up the pieces after Trump’s decisive victory on Tuesday, some in the party have expressed frustration that the 81-year-old Biden did not decide to abandon his re-election bid before this summer, despite long-standing voter concerns about his age, as well as widespread discontent with high inflation, the US role in the slaughter of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza and migration across the border into Mexico.

“The biggest burden for this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and supported Harris’ unsuccessful run. “If he had resigned in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place,” Yang told the AP.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an ally of Biden and Harris, said in a statement that the election revealed that the Democratic Party leadership had lost touch with the concerns of working-class Americans.

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?” asked the Vermont Independent. “Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of thousands of Americans are experiencing?”

Biden spent much of his speech trying to reassure his “hurting” supporters not to feel too down.

“You can only love your country when you win,” he said, echoing a theme he has referenced in previous speeches. “Setbacks are inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable … The American experiment continues. We’ll make it.”

Electoral divisions

Biden’s speech was laced with irony about his accomplishments and his promise to hand over power to his successor, Trump, who, when he lost re-election in 2020, refused to accept the results and did not attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after many Democrats said, that he tried. to organize an illegal rebellion to stay in power.

Throughout the campaign, Biden repeatedly framed a possible Trump return to the White House as a threat to democracy, and the two men have repeatedly hurled insults at each other.

Trump has called Biden the “worst president in the history of this country,” and Biden appeared to describe Trump supporters as “garbage” just days before Tuesday’s election, before trying to walk back the comment, saying it was a reference to a comedian who bad-mouthed Puerto Ricans at a Trump rally.

Now that the election is over, Biden on Thursday urged people on both sides to “turn the temperature down.”

In another irony, Biden told his supporters to take solace in the political achievements of his four years in office, including his signature massive infrastructure spending spree, much of which will “take time” to have an impact.

“We leave behind the strongest economy in the world,” Biden said, ignoring the fact that exit polls show many voters cast their ballots against Democratic candidates because of their perception that the current White House had mishandled the economy, leaving they struggle with high inflation and stagnant wages.

Biden ended his remarks on another ironic note, praising election workers for demonstrating the integrity of the nation’s voting system, which Trump and many Republicans have loudly criticized as vulnerable to fraud.

“It’s honest, it’s fair and it’s transparent,” he said.

Harris’ admission

Biden’s address to the nation came a day after Harris officially conceded the race Wednesday afternoon in a speech to tearful supporters gathered at her alma mater, Howard University, stressing that even if she didn’t win the presidential election this year, the race is far from over. from above.

“The outcome of the election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said, while saying her supporters should accept the results in principle.

“Don’t despair. This is not a time to throw up your hands. This is a time to roll up your sleeves,” Harris said. “This is a time to organize, mobilize and stay committed for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.”