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President-elect Joe Biden said in his victory speech Saturday night that his first priority upon taking office will be addressing the coronavirus pandemic and healing political division.

Biden, a Syracuse University College of Law alumnus, defeated President Donald Trump with at least 290 electoral votes after winning in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. He said during the speech in Wilmington, Delaware that he will name a group of leading scientists and experts and transition advisors to put his COVID-19 response plan into action.

Biden also cited his campaign platform to “build back better,” which involves bringing Americans together across party lines and bolstering the economy.

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, and to make America respected around the world again, and to unite us here at home,” Biden said.

Biden thanked the poll workers and volunteers who worked through the pandemic to count ballots. The president-elect won four days after polls closed due to delays caused by a surge of absentee ballots, which skewed toward him in several key states.

He also acknowledged the contributions of Black voters to his campaign.

“In especially those moments when this campaign was at its lowest half, the African-American community stood up again for me,” Biden said. “You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours.”

Support from Black voters in South Carolina during the Democratic primary election helped earn Biden the party’s nomination.

Biden also addressed voters who did not vote for him, saying he understands their disappointment, but that the country must move forward together.

“Now, let’s give each other a chance,” he said. “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again.”

Biden also listed curbing climate change, expanding health care and rooting out systemic racism in the United States as goals of his administration.

“Let us be the nation that we know we can be, a nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed, ”Biden said.

Published on November 8, 2020 at 12:25 am

Contact Madison: mntyler@syr.edu