Earlier today, Associated Press called the 2020 presidential election; Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the presidency and vice-presidency.
This has been a historic election, to say the least. Kamala Harris is the first woman to be elected Vice President. Moreover, it has taken place in the midst of a pandemic, and Biden has managed to garner more votes than any other presidential candidate, contributed to by mail-in ballots and an increased early turnout. If the election was determined by the national popular vote, Biden would have a clear win, currently leading by over 4 million votes. Instead, we waited days to see which way Pennsylvania’s (and Nevada’s, among others) electoral votes would go. This brings to attention the common debate over the necessity of the electoral college, which doesn’t dredge up much controversy in more decisive races but becomes especially contentious in tight races as we’ve seen this year.
In the final stretch of the election season, Biden’s campaign focused especially on states that swung to Trump in 2016, particularly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, gaining support from an “unlikely alliance of women, people of color, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans” and through his emphatic disapproval of Trump’s management of the pandemic as well as his general character.
We have yet to see a concession from President Trump, though that is to be expected given his administration’s continued narrative that this has been a fraudulent election. As he continues to spread misinformation about election integrity, Trump claims that the race is “far from over,” his campaign issuing a statement that they will be taking to the courts next week to ensure that “election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.” Trump is also one of three presidents to lose re-election since World War II.
In a brief statement, Biden said, “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.” He puts forth a message of unity, although he will certainly be met with challenges going forward with a deeply divided Senate.
Biden and Harris surely have immense tasks awaiting them, with the issue of distributing a vaccine for Covid-19, restoring the economy, and addressing systemic reforms in regards to the policing system and racial justice. But they are preparing—their transition site assures that “the transition team will continue preparing at full speed so that the Biden-Harris Administration can hit the ground running on Day One.”
The Washington Post (election updates, might change depending on when you view the link)
CNN (election updates, might change depending on when you view the link)
9 comments:
Joe Biden's and Kamala Harris' victory re-energized many people from this long, stressful week of counting votes. However, I wonder what the effect of Trump's lack of concession has on the public. What kind of message is he sending to people? To be petty? We haven't seen a presidential candidate not concede since the unofficial tradition began in 1896, so Donald Trump's mindset here is worrying, to say the least, about what he can possibly do in the weeks leading up to January. I also wonder how long Trump's stage of "denial" will go on for, as even after the Associated Press called Biden's win, he tweeted "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT," and continued to say the counting rooms were rigged/incorrect.
President Trump's support is rightfully dwindling. With lack of support from the media including Fox News (who projected Biden as the winner) coupled with Biden's big win in the 2020 election (Biden is leading the popular and electoral college vote by margins that far exceed any margin of error), his false claims of a fraudulent election seem less and less convincing to the public. As we see right now, millions of Americans are already out on the streets celebrating the new president-elect, Joseph R. Biden. Despite this, Trump still refuses to concede. Sources state that he will fight to the very end. However, his blatant lies regarding the "fraudulent" election and lack of evidence compel me to predict that he will not be able to make a convincing case for himself in court.
During the past week, we've seen an extremely divided America. The whole world has seen it. Biden's message of unity throughout the country is extremely crucial to the future of the nation as we now see riots, protests, and violence from Trump supporters along with happy gatherings of those who support Biden. We can only hope that Trump concedes in a respectful manner in order for America to heal. Despite the negativity, this is a revolutionary day as we are not only about to have the first female VP, but a female VP who is both Black and Asian.
I'm optimistic about the changes Biden and Harris will implement regarding health care policy, climate change, poverty, police reform, and so much more. Their success is a sigh of relief in some way because not only will they inflict policy change, but we now have people in office who listen to scientists and those around them. The best thing we can do now is hold the Biden administration accountable for their promises. Biden and Harris do not have the best track records, Biden's 1994 crime bill and Harris' time as the Attorney General in San Francisco wreaked havoc in low income and minority communities, but I believe this is truly an instance where there has been a change in morals and values and they will stand up for these communities that they harmed in the past. Despite their victory, Biden and Harris have both expressed the importance of unity going forward, unlike Trump. Varsha mentioned Trump's tweets and to that I think it would be for the better if there was some sort of chaperone monitering what Trump decides to tweet because what he projects onto social media will have widespread repercussions.
Adding to Harbani’s ideas, we have seen the hesitation many prominent Republican leaders have had in their silence towards President Trump’s incessant claims of a fraudulent election. While House Minority and Senate Majority leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell have chosen to refrain from making statements, Trump’s campaign manager and others continue to back his false narrative. However, others, such as Senator Mitt Romney, led by example, extending words of congratulation to Biden and Harris and acknowledging their win. The urgent need for a peaceful transition of power is crucial now more than ever; as mentioned by my fellow classmates, the many spheres of divide among the American people is currently heightened in our country. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ win today signifies a brimming sense of hope and return to unity, which both reiterated in their victory speeches. As Kayla stated, they must be held accountable, and I find a promise of hope in the character they have pledged to restore to the White House, American government and our nation.
I am very interested in how this election is going to pan out. Yes, they announced Biden was the president elect, but 2020 is no stranger to unusual things occurring. It makes me uneasy to think that Trump thinks he can still win even after the election showed an obvious winner. What are these lawsuits and why can they change the outcome of the election? His personal attorney Rudy Julian filed multiple lawsuits in many different states saying that they did not have fair and lawful voting. Giuliani even got poll watchers to come out and they said that the people running the polling stations wouldn't let the poll watcher get closer than 15 feet from the people counting votes. If this accusation are true, which I doubt, could we be looking at Trumps re-election? If Trump is to be re-elected after all of this, I do not believe peace will be reached in this country. Our country is divided once again by our parties, and now that Biden has been named president elect by the associated press, there should be a peaceful transition of power.
In response to Kaitlyn, to build off of the idea that Senator Mitt Romney extended his congratulations to Biden and Harris, I think that as more public officials and even leaders of other nations acknowledge Biden and Harris' win, the harder it will be for Trump's administration to pose a credible argument in court, especially when the rest of the world sees Biden as the legitimate president-elect. Trump and his administration have already trapped themselves in a picture of desperation and incredibility as they further narratives of misinformation and baseless claims. At the end of the day, I believe that the majority of Americans, regardless of party, want to see the country succeed and prosper. Not that those who oppose Biden should no longer voice their beliefs, but I think that even if some don't directly support Biden, if acknowledging the results of the election and accepting Biden as the next president is what will most presently move our country forward, I think people will do it in the interest of the country, the people, and the future.
To add onto what Varsha and Kayla said about Trump's tweets, it seems like for the past few weeks all of his tweets/threads have been censored. They were previously flagged for misinformation (in which a banner would appear upon viewing the post), but lately the tweets are not viewable until the user clicks the link, which I think is a great decision on Twitter's end with all the false information Trump has been spreading to his supporters (not to mention all of the false information his family members and supporters have been putting out).
Additionally, Mike Pompeo's statement during a press conference was extremely unsettling, in which he states that "there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration..." When asked about Trump's refusal to concede, Pompeo marks the question as "ridiculous." These statements completely undermine democracy in America, as Pompeo is invalidating Biden's win (where he won not only through the electoral college, but also the popular vote by a significant margin). Cases and lawsuits filed by the Trump administration are being thrown out consistently, and in many states like Arizona, Trump must come to realize that Biden won by too high of a margin to challenge the state's votes (especially with no evidence of voter fraud). However, media has been emphasizing that Trump's inner circle, including Melania, is beginning to convince him to accept the loss. It doesn't seem like it's working well, as Trump walked out of his press conference today when a reporter confronted him of his refusal to acknowledge Biden as the presidential elect. I hope that Trump finds it in himself to congratulate Biden and accept his own loss for the good of the country.
The continued behavior discussed in the above comments is certainly pointing to a grim turnout with the transfer of power in January. While it's comforting to have a lot of fact-checkers debunking everything President Trump tries to spin about the turnout of the election, Trump's term has been full of twists and firsts for a presidential administration, leaving most of us on the edge of our seats regardless of the finality of the results. However, it does seem like most institutions are more liberal with their restrictions on the sitting president now that he is set to lose his power in August.
(John Mulaney's famous "horse in the hospital" sketch comes to mind - we all know that eventually "it will be okay," but none of us have any clue about the immediate future. It's strange how accurate that sketch is to the cultural climate surrounding the Trump administration, even three years later.)
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