Joe Biden, in a stern indictment against Donald Trump, on Monday denounced his stubborn refusal to acknowledge his defeat and called on Am...
Joe Biden, in a stern indictment against Donald Trump, on Monday denounced his stubborn refusal to acknowledge his defeat and called on America to "turn the page."
The Electoral College on Monday endorsed the presidential victory of Joe Biden, who in a stern rebrum against Donald Trump denounced his stubborn refusal to acknowledge his defeat.
Unsurprisingly, the electorate, which met on Monday state by state, confirmed the consecration of Barack Obama's former vice president, who will become the 46th president in the country's history on January 20.
While the vote stage of the electorate is traditionally a formality, Donald Trump has given it a special relief by refusing to admit the verdict of the ballot box and echoing conspiracy theories about possible electoral cheating.
"This is an extreme position we've never seen before," Biden said in a speech from his stronghold in Wilmington, Delaware, about the Republican's many unsuccessful lawsuits to have the results invalidated in some states. "A position that refused to respect the will of the people, to respect the rule of law, and refused to honor our constitution," the Democrat said.
Joe Biden had for the moment refrained from attacking Donald Trump so head-on on the subject.
"It's time to move on"
"The integrity of our elections has been preserved. Now it's time to move on. To bring us together," invited the future president of the United States. "The flame of democracy was lit a long time ago in this country. And we now know that nothing - or even a pandemic or an abuse of power - can extinguish that flame."
The results of the November 3rd poll have already been certified by each of the 50 US states: the Democrat won a record 81.28 million votes, or 51.3% of the vote, against 74.22 million (46.8%) to the outgoing Republican president.
But in the United States, the tenant of the White House is chosen by indirect universal suffrage, and Monday's vote of this "electoral college" endorsed the victory of Joe Biden.
This expected development was followed by another that was less so, when Donald Trump announced the departure of his Justice Secretary Bill Barr, whom the president had recently criticized for not denouncing the voter frauds he wants to convince the world of.
"Bill will leave just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family, Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an incredible person, will ensure the interim," the outgoing president tweeted.
"Recognizing defeat"
From the White House, Donald Trump has been denouncing for almost a month and a half, without evidence but conspiracy theories to support it, "the most rigged election in American history".
Almost all of his legal actions have been dismissed. Ultimate humiliation, the Supreme Court, which it has radically overhauled by appointing three judges and thus consolidating the conservative majority of six out of nine, last week rejected two Republican appeals without even addressing the merits.
With Monday's solemn step now, will more Republican elected officials agree to finally recognize Joe Biden's victory? It's possible.
One of them, Republican Senator Rob Portman, took the step Monday: "Although I supported President Trump, today's Electoral College vote makes it clear now that Joe Biden is the president-elect."
But it's unlikely that Donald Trump will fall into line, especially since polls show that a large majority of his voters don't see the Democrat as a legitimate winner.
He could try to take advantage of the complexity of an institutional process that stretches out in length for a final hurrah: some elected officials close to him plan to challenge the results when Congress is called upon to make a final validation on January 6. However, the process has virtually no chance of succeeding.
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