US election: Joe Biden vows to ‘unify’ country in victory speech
Joe Biden has said it is “time to heal” the US in his first speech as president-elect, vowing “not to divide but to unify” the country.
“Let’s give each other a chance,” he said at an event in Delaware addressing those who did not vote for him.
Mr Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump following a cliff-hanger vote count after Tuesday’s election.
Mr Trump has yet to concede and has not spoken publicly since his defeat was announced while he was playing golf.
The result makes Mr Trump the first one-term president since the 1990s.
His campaign has filed a barrage of lawsuits in various states but election officials say there is no evidence that the vote was rigged against him, as he has claimed.
Spontaneous celebrations erupted in major cities after media outlets announced Mr Biden’s victory on Saturday. Disappointed Trump supporters demonstrated in some cities but there were no reports of incidents.
Biden: ‘We have to stop treating our opponents as enemies’
Addressing cheering supporters in a parking lot in his hometown of Wilmington, Mr Biden said: “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.”
Mr Biden – who has won more than 74 million votes so far, the most ever for a US presidential candidate – hailed the “diverse” support he gathered during the campaign, and thanked African-American voters in particular.
But he also reached out to Trump supporters directly.
“It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again,” Mr Biden said, without mentioning his rival in the election.
“And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies.”
The president-elect, who arrived on stage wearing a face mask, announced that he would form his coronavirus response committee to ensure it is ready to implement decisions from his inauguration day in January, because “that’s the only way we can get back to living”.
The Trump administration’s response to the pandemic was at the centre of the presidential campaign, and drew heavy criticism from Mr Biden, who said his plan would be “built on bedrock science”. The US has reported more than 237,000 deaths, the most of any country.