The Joe Biden campaign has just sent out this statement, moments after Joe Biden was projected to become the first candidate in a quarter century to defeat an incumbent president.
The statement said, “I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice-President-elect Harris.
“In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
“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.”
From Donald Trump, comes a reaction after Biden was projected to have won the presidential election.
Trump said, “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed,” the written statement begins.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over,” it says, correctly pointing out that the vote counts have not yet been certified by election officials and remain projections by news media.
However we should point out that this is normal after an election – the media projects a winner based on an analysis of the votes that have been counted.
Trump vows that “beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated”, in a reference to legal challenges that have already been filed – and many rejected – in several states.
Trump claims, without evidence, that the Biden campaign “wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters”.
“So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”
Election observers and officials overseeing vote counts have repeatedly said that no widespread irregularities have been seen in the process.