Joe Biden urges public to 'see each other as fellow Americans' after Donald Trump's election win

Outgoing president Joe Biden urged Americans to come together in the wake of ’s election victory.

The US leader urged unity in the wake of , in which his vice president was trounced at the ballot box. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Biden – who is still in post until January 20 – said the people deserve a peaceful transition.

Biden, 81, said: “For over 200 years, America has carried out the greatest experiment in self-government in the history of the That’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact. Where the people vote and choose their own leaders, and they do it peacefully. And we’re in a democracy. The will of the people always prevails.”

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Biden added: “I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory, and I assured him that I’d direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition.”

He went on: “I know for some people it is a time for victory. For others, it’s a time of loss. Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other, we accept the choice the country made. You can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbour only when you agree.

“Something I think you can do, no matter who you voted for, is see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans. Setbacks are unavoidable... we all get knocked down but the measure of our character is how quickly we get back up. A defeat does not mean we are defeated. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up.”

The president also used his speech to defend his record in office after Democrats blamed him for Harris’s defeat in Tuesday’s poll. Biden threw the campaign into chaos by pulling out with just three months left, leaving his running mate little time to get her message across. “Much of the work we’ve done is already being felt by the American people,” he said. “But the vast majority of it will be felt over the next 10 years.”

Already, Biden has moved to put legislation in place before Trump takes power. His administration moved to limit oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in a bid to prevent Trump from opening it up – something he had hinted at.

The US military also moved to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told US troops the Pentagon will make a calm, orderly and professional transition to the incoming administration. In a message to the force dated November 6, Austin wrote: “As it always has, the US military will stand ready to carry out the policy choices of its next Commander in Chief, and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command.”

Austin’s memo was sent as the military grapples with the election of Trump, 78, who has suggested he would be open to using active duty troops for domestic law enforcement and mass deportations. Trump’s election has raised questions inside the defence department about what would happen if he issued an unlawful order or invoked the Insurrection Act to deploy active duty US troops domestically.

Austin wrote that the military will “stand apart” from politics and continue to support and defend the Constitution. “You are not just any military,” Austin wrote. “You are the United States military – the finest fighting force on Earth – and you will continue to defend our country, our Constitution and the rights of citizens.”

The last handover of power, in 2021, was marred by the January 6 riots, in which thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC in an attempt to get his 2020 election defeat overturned. Six people died in the attack, which followed a speech in which Trump said: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country any more.” A week later, Trump was impeached for inciting insurrection, making him the only US official to be impeached twice.

Russian President yesterday congratulated Trump on his election victory. After a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, he said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States.”

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