U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Americans to “bring down the temperature” and vowed to “make every day count” for the remainder of his term before handing control of the White House, and the country, to president-elect Donald Trump next year.
Speaking for the first time since his fellow Democrats suffered a crushing defeat to Trump in Tuesday’s U.S. election, Biden sought to both console Americans disappointed in Vice-President Kamala Harris’s loss and defend his legacy, despite voters delivering a strong rebuke to his presidency.
“We’re leaving behind the strongest economy in the world,” Biden said in his brief remarks from the Rose Garden outside the White House, addressing his cabinet and staff. “I know people are still hurting, but things are changing rapidly.
“Together, we’ve changed America for the better. Now we have 74 days to finish the term. Our term. Let’s make every day count.”
Biden will leave office after leading the United States out of the COVID-19 pandemic, galvanizing international support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and passing a US$1-trillion infrastructure bill that will affect communities for years to come.
Biden himself acknowledged that the impact of that legislation and other measures passed during his administration could take “the next 10 years” to be felt and was “now just really kicking in.”
But exit polls from Tuesday’s election showed vast majorities of voters were dissatisfied and even angry with the state of the country under Biden, and many of them said they were worse off financially than they were four years ago — suggesting they could not wait for those future impacts.
Inflation, a global phenomenon brought on by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other factors, had eaten into Americans’ standard of living and made them hungry for change.
Trump seized on that economic dissatisfaction in his successful campaign, and ate into areas of traditional Democratic support by promising to turn things around. Harris — drafted by Democrats to replace Biden with just over 100 days to turn the party’s fortunes around — tried to portray herself as the change candidate with affordability-focused policies, but was often left defending the Biden administration she served in.
A likely turning point raised in post-election analysis by commentators was Harris’s appearance on ABC’s The View in September, where she was not able to identify a decision where she would have separated herself from Biden.
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“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris said, giving the Trump campaign a sound bite it replayed through Election Day.
Although ballots were still being counted Thursday, Trump was on track to win the national popular vote for the first time in three presidential campaigns he has run.
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Some Democrats blamed the 81-year-old Biden’s decision to seek re-election, despite public concerns about his age, for the party’s dismal showing. At the very least, they said the president should have ended his campaign earlier to allow for a proper primary, rather than coronating an untested Harris.
“The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris’s unsuccessful run, told The Associated Press. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed to “global headwinds” that created difficulties for incumbent governments around the world when asked if Biden took any responsibility for Harris’ loss.
“What we saw two nights ago was not unusual to what we have seen from the incumbencies around the world on the global stage,” she told reporters.
She responded to questions about whether Biden should have stepped down earlier by saying “we can’t rewrite history,” and that the president made what he felt was the right decision at the time.
Biden on Thursday did not acknowledge the finger-pointing among Democrats, but stressed the need for America to come together despite the bitterness of the campaign and some people’s fears of what a second Trump presidency will bring.
“Something that I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, you see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans,” he said. “Bring down the temperature.
“Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up.”
Having run four years ago against Trump to “restore the soul of the country,” Biden will make way after just one term for his immediate predecessor, who overcame two impeachments, a felony conviction and an attack on the U.S. Capitol launched by his supporters to overturn his election loss.
Trump has pledged to radically reshape the federal government and roll back many of Biden’s priorities. That includes not just domestic issues like tax policy and fighting climate change, but also puts continued U.S. support for Ukraine into doubt and raises the potential for further tensions with China and Iran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Trump a congratulatory message and said he hopes the two powers will coexist peacefully, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Republicans are poised to control the White House and Senate. Control of the House has yet to be determined.
Biden said he called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his victory and promised to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
Biden also invited Trump to a meeting at the White House, his office said, which the Trump campaign said the president-elect accepted.
The president commended Harris on running “an inspiring campaign.”
“She has a backbone like a ramrod,” he said. “She has great character, true character. She gave her whole heart and effort, and she and her entire team should be proud of the campaign they ran.”
—with files from The Associated Press
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