VIDEO: Biden begins transition as Trump refuses to concede defeat
US President-elect Joe Biden leaves after a church service in Wilmington, Delaware. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Gulf Today Report
US President-elect Democrat Joe Biden began preparing on Sunday towards moving into the White House in 73 days, to deal with the coronavirus and other problems that will confront him as president of a divided America.
President Donald Trump again refused to admit defeat and tried to sow doubt about the election results, planned campaign-style rallies to contest the election.
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Trump has promised legal action in the coming days as he refused to concede his loss to Biden, making an aggressive pitch for donors to help finance any court fight.
Trump and his campaign have leveled accusations of large-scale voter fraud in Pennsylvania and other states that broke for Biden, so far without proof.
Meanwhile, Trump played golf at his course near Washington, the same place where he was Saturday when the US television networks delivered the news that Biden had secured enough Electoral College votes for victory.
“Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?” Trump complained in a tweet on Sunday.
Trump plans to file a string of lawsuits in the coming week, according to his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who said he had “a lot of evidence” of fraud.
Joe Biden gestures for a photograph. File photo
But former president George W. Bush said the “outcome is clear” and added that he had called “President-elect” Biden and Harris to extend his congratulations.
Bush said in a statement that “the American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair... We must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future.”
Biden’s transition website lists four priorities: Covid-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.
“The team being assembled will meet these challenges on Day One,” it said in a reference to Jan.20, 2021, when Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.
Biden, who turns 78 on Nov.20, is the oldest person ever elected to the White House. Harris, 56, a senator from California, is the first woman, first Black person and first South Asian person to be elected vice president.
Biden plans to name a task force on Monday to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 237,000 people dead in the United States and is surging across the country.
He has also announced plans to rejoin the Paris climate accord and will reportedly issue an executive order on his first day in office reversing Trump’s travel ban on mostly Muslim countries.
Biden has vowed to name a cabinet that reflects the diversity of the country, although he may have trouble gaining approval for more progressive appointees if Republicans retain control of the Senate — an outcome that will depend on two runoff races in Georgia in January.
