We May Be Opponents But We’re Not Enemies, Biden Tells Americans

***Biden Campaign Office Says Trespassers Can Be Escorted From White House

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Democratic candidate in the United States election and former vice president, Joe Biden, on Friday said it was time for all Americans to get the vitriol out of the country’s politics.

Biden, in a short address to the nation, asked the citizens to be civil to one another.

He presented himself as the candidate of unity after a bitterly fought campaign.

“We may be opponents but we’re not enemies, we’re Americans,” said Biden, who did not mention his Republican opponent and incumbent president, Donald Trump.

Biden’s appearance had originally been planned as a victory speech, but he opted instead to give a general update on the state of the race as US TV networks cautiously held off declaring him the winner.

The Democrat said he hoped to address the nation again on Saturday.

But on Friday, the Democratic candidate was optimistic of the party’s victory in the election.

The Democratic challenger now has 253 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to clinch the White House under the state-by-state US voting system.

He leads vote counts in the battlegrounds of Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

“We are winning. We’re going to win this race,” Biden told supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday night, striking a confident tone. He was joined by his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris.

He said he was on track to win more than 300 Electoral College votes and pointed out that more people had voted for his campaign – over 74 million people – than any US presidential candidate in history.

Biden said Americans had given him a mandate to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, the struggling economy, climate change and systemic racism.

On Friday for the third straight day the US set a fresh record for new COVID-19 cases, with more than 127,000 infections.

If he is declared the victor this weekend, his team is expected to begin its transition process on Monday.

Biden – who ran twice previously for the White House, in 1988 and 2008, without success – would be the oldest president ever inaugurated at 78.

joe biden

The Secret Service has sent reinforcements to Delaware to beef up Biden’s security detail.

The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted flights over Wilmington’s airspace.

However, there is no indication Mr Trump will concede to his opponent in the short term.

“Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President,” he tweeted on Friday afternoon.

“I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!”

Trump has been making unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, spurring some fellow Republicans to speak up that the rhetoric should be toned down.

President Trump is angry and disappointed that more of his allies are not rallying to his side on television or in the streets, according to White House officials on Friday.

He has been watching television, making phone calls to on-the-ground campaign offices, and dividing his time between the Oval Office and the residence.

Several aides did not show up for work and the White House was described as “very empty” with a sombre mood.

Adding to the bad news, it was reported on Friday night that White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, 61, had tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Biden campaign office on Friday warned that President Donald Trump could be escorted from the White House if he refuses to admit defeat in America’s knife-edge election.

“”Trespassers can be escorted from White House,” the campaign official said.

The Democratic challenger is edging towards the presidency after pulling ahead in the key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

But Trump has made it clear that he is not ready to concede, launching unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and claiming falsely that he had been cheated out of re-election.

 

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