Electoral College Confirms Joe Biden's Victory
As Biden appealed to Americans to "turn the page"
on the divisive contest, electors met across all US states to seal his win,
with California pushing Biden over the majority of 270 votes — and clearing the
way for him to take office on January 20, AFP reports.
Joe Biden was confirmed as the next US president on Monday
as the Electoral College formalised his victory over Donald Trump, all but
closing the door on the incumbent's efforts to overturn the result of the 2020
election.
As Biden appealed to Americans to "turn the page"
on the divisive contest, electors met across all US states to seal his win,
with California pushing Biden over the majority of 270 votes — and clearing the
way for him to take office on January 20, AFP reports.
Joe Biden
But with his ability to steal the spotlight still intact,
Trump announced moments later that Attorney General Bill Barr, who contradicted
the outgoing president's claims that the November 3 election was marred by
fraud, would leave his post next week.
"Our relationship has been a very good one," Trump
tweeted, making no mention of their divergence. "Bill will be leaving just
before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family."
While a senior administration official said Barr resigned of
his own accord and was not pushed out, the extraordinary convergence of events
highlighted the tensions underlying Trump's "lame duck" final weeks
in office.
The 200-plus-year-old Electoral College procedure is merely
a formality in confirming the will of the people expressed at the polls, but
the process carried added significance given the turbulence of last month's
election and Trump's refusal to acknowledge his defeat.
California's electors burst into applause as the presiding
officer read out the tally of 55 in favour of Biden and none opposed —
confirming Barack Obama's former vice president as the nation's 46th president.
"Democracy prevailed. We the people voted…. The
integrity of our elections remains intact," Biden said in excerpts from a
speech he was expected to deliver in his home city of Wilmington, Delaware
later Monday.
"Now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to
heal," Biden said. "I will be a president for all Americans."
This year, the somewhat arcane Electoral College procedure
was at the centre of an ugly — and many warn dangerous — challenge led by Trump
against the credibility of US democracy.
Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to
claim, without evidence, that he was the real winner.
Court after court had turned down the Republican team's
claims of election fraud and last Friday the US Supreme Court, dealt a final
legal blow when it threw out an appeal lodged by Trump allies from Texas and
other Republican-led states.
Formal Electoral College confirmation drew a further line
under the election, which saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after
campaigning on a message of vanquishing the Covid-19 pandemic, healing
political division and restoring traditional US diplomacy.
Until now, a majority of Republicans in Congress have either
backed Trump's claims or at least turned a blind eye, with many refusing to
call Biden the president-elect.
Disinformation spearheaded by the president and spread by
popular commentators on Fox News and new conspiracy theory-mongering outlets
like Newsmax means many Americans have all but given up faith in their
institutions.
Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of
far-right groups, protested in Washington at the weekend, brawling with
counter-protesters, while in Georgia footage showed armed activists in
camouflage parading at the state Capitol to support Trump's claims.
Polls show as few as one in four Republican voters accept
the election results.
Trump maintained his stream of threats and unsubstantiated
claims on Twitter Monday, citing "massive VOTER FRAUD" and declaring
that certifying election results would be "a severely punishable
crime."
The legal Electoral College vote, however, has now left the
Trump train almost no place left to go.
Ahead of Biden's inauguration, one major formality remains,
when Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, opens up and counts
the electoral votes on January 6.
In the latest sign of a shifting tide, the staunchly
Trump-supporting editorial board of The Wall Street Journal told Trump that his
time is up.
"President Trump's legal challenges have run their
course, and he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and
themselves by acknowledging the result and moving on," it said.
Comments
Post a Comment