Democratic candidate Joe Biden is projected to become America’s 46th president, according to conclusions reached Saturday by multiple national United States media.
Biden himself has declared victory, and said he is “honored and humbled” to be elected president, together with California Senator Kamala Harris, projected to become the country’s first black female vice president.
President Donald Trump has not yet conceded and is challenging the count in several states.
Despite the media’s crowning of Joe Biden, there is an actual official process. Congress needs to certify who won the Electoral College votes in each of the 50 states by December 14th. This would then be signed off in a joint session of Congress on January 6, with Vice-President Mike Pence and presumably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presiding, unless they don’t sign off, and then it really gets murky.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated,” Trump said in a statement.
“The American people are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots.”
In the state of Georgia, there will be a recount, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who said the narrow vote margin was less than 0.5 percent of the votes cast. “With a margin that small, there will be a recount,” he said. In addition, there were more than 4,169 votes still left to be counted, in addition to ballots from military personnel that were still arriving.
Unlike other world leaders, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent and has not yet congratulated either candidate in the presidential election.
Members of the Squad congratulated Biden and Harris. Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar declared this to be “the opportunity to carry out the most progressive agenda our country has ever seen.”
Congratulations to and on your historic win!
We have not only voted out the most corrupt, dangerous president in modern history but have the opportunity to carry out the most progressive agenda our country has ever seen.
Let’s get to work!
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN)