Biden to Trump: Time to respect the people’s will

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday said it was time for outgoing President Donald Trump to stop grandstanding and concede the Nov. 3 election.

Addressing the nation shortly after the Electoral College confirmed his victory in the Nov. 3 general polls, Biden said the “will of the people prevailed”.

He said Trump’s refusal to accept defeat after his several lawsuits failed up to the Supreme Court was an “unprecedented assault on our democracy”.

He stated that the country’s democracy had been “pushed, tested and threatened” but “proved to be resilient, true and strong”.

“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago, and we now know that nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame.

“This is the biggest voter turn out in the history of the United States of America.

“The number is so big that this election now ranks the clearest demonstration of the true will of the American people.

“Together, Vice President-elect Harris and I earned 306 electoral votes, well exceeding the 270 electoral votes needed to secure victory.

“Three hundred and six electoral votes is the same number of electoral votes that Donald Trump and Vice President Pence received when they won in 2016.

“At the time, President Trump called the electoral college a landslide. And I respectfully suggest he does so now,” the president-elect said.

Biden won the November election with received 306 electoral votes, against Trump’s 232.

The next step is the transmission of the votes to a joint session of Congress presided over by Vice President Pence on Jan. 6 for counting and final confirmation.

This will pave the way for Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Trump said in November that he would step aside in January if the electoral college ratified Biden’s victory.