Biden Defeats Trump to Take White House, Harris to Becomes First Female V.P.

The White House in Washington, D.C.

Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States after a four-day vote-counting period. He crossed the 270 electoral vote mark after CNN and the Associated Press said he had won the state of Pennsylvania.

“America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” the president-elect said in a tweet upon learning the news.  “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”

Biden will be the oldest president ever elected and will be the second U.S. president who is Catholic.

“Philadelphia delivered the margin of victory that allowed CNN to call Pennsylvania for Biden,” said CNN anchor Jake Tapper.   Biden currently has 273 electoral votes to Trump’s 214.  He is projected to win as many as 306 electoral votes once the final tallies are in from Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.

The announcement follows a campaign in which the president-elect promised to address the coronavirus pandemic head on and to unite a deeply divided nation.

Meanwhile, President Trump, who is trailing badly in electoral votes, hasn’t conceded the election. The Trump campaign is contesting the vote-counting process in several states and, already, several attempts by the campaign to do so have been rejected by the courts.

The victory makes Senator Kamala Harris of California the first woman ever elected as vice president. She was the first woman of Indian descent and the first black woman to be on a presidential ticket.

The election results must still be certified by the individual states.  The Electoral College will vote in December and the final results will be announced in Congress in January 2021.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)