Electoral College confirms Biden as nation’s 46th president
Joe Biden officially elected next President of the United States, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Kaitlin Lewis
News Editor
Weeks of turbulence following the presidential election were settled today after the Electoral College officially announced Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.
Biden was awarded the 306 electoral votes he was projected to win in November, giving him a solid majority win over President Donald Trump.
The Electoral College attracted much more attention than in past years after Trump continuously tried to overturn election results with claims of widespread voter fraud.
The President continued to tweet claims of fraud in swing states such as Michigan today while the elector’s votes were being announced.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338574268154646528?s=20
Twitter has marked the tweet, among others, as disputed.
Still, after the Electoral College vote, Trump has yet to concede, a motion that is more of a “classy gesture” than a necessary step in the transition of power between presidents.
Despite the noise, Biden reaffirmed his campaign promise to be a president to all Americans, reassuring voters that on Monday, “democracy prevail.” Biden continues to build his cabinet in preparation for Jan. 20, wanting to be fully prepared to tackle the coronavirus once he takes office.
Preparations for the electoral college looked much different this year due to both threats of spreading the coronavirus as well as supporters of Trump sending threats to electors.
Michigan lawmakers received multiple threats to their electors, leading the state to close their capitol building to the public on Monday, according to the New York Times.
One word of potential violence came from Republican state legislator Gary Eisen, who said on a public radio show Monday morning that he had heard word of protesting being planned.
“There’s going to be violence. There’s going to be protests. And they asked me if I was going to assist today. … And how could I not?” Eisen said.
Eisen was removed from his committee assignments later Monday afternoon.
While other swing states also prepared to be met with protests and violence, the electoral proceedings carried on relatively smoothly.
Biden addressed the nation Monday evening, calling the President’s legal action to overturn the election “bullying.”
Biden also expressed clear confidence in America’s voting processes, calling it a defining feature of our democracy.
“If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy,” Biden said.
“The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves. In America, politicians don’t take power — people grant power to them.”
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