US President-elect Joe Biden ruled Tuesday, November 10, that Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat was “Source of embarrassment”, while asserting that this would not prevent him from taking his place in the White House, in January.
“I think that’s an embarrassment, honestly”, replied the Democrat to a journalist who asked him about the attitude of the Republican billionaire, during a press briefing from his stronghold in Wilmington, Delaware. ” I believe it will not serve the president’s legacy. “ But “The fact that they [les républicains] don’t want to recognize, at this point, that we’ve won doesn’t have much of an impact on our program [de transition] “, he estimated.
A week after the presidential election of November 3, Donald Trump and his team continue, in fact, to claim victory, slowing the transition period of Joe Biden, who is trying, despite everything, to move forward. US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo on Tuesday supported Donald Trump’s position by also refusing to recognize Mr. Biden’s victory and promising a “Smooth transition” to a “Second” Republican mandate. “We will count all the votes”, he said at a press conference, assuring that leaders around the world were aware that it was a “Legal process” who ” takes time “.
“Mr. President, I can’t wait to talk to you”
After having chained the meetings in the home stretch of the campaign, Donald Trump is now unusually discreet: as, for several days, no public event has appeared on his agenda on Tuesday. The Republican billionaire relies on his favorite communication channel, Twitter, to occupy the space and relay his accusations of electoral fraud, often pinned by the network, for lack of concrete evidence to support them.
” We will win ! “, he promised Tuesday morning, in capital letters, as if to better convince himself that the legal efforts undertaken by his team to challenge the results in key states had a chance of succeeding. “We are making great strides. The results will start to fall next week ”, he wrote again, while the Minister of Justice gave the green light to the opening of investigations into possible irregularities during the poll.
Donald Trump, relatively isolated within his party, had already contented himself with tweeting Monday to announce bluntly the dismissal of his defense minister, Mark Esper, or wonder about the timing of the announcement by the Pfizer laboratory, after the presidential election, of an effective candidate vaccine against Covid-19.
To a reporter who asked him what he would say to Mr. Trump if he was watching his press conference, Mr. Biden replied on Tuesday, staring into the camera and smiling: “Mr. Speaker, I look forward to talking to you. “
First telephone interview with Emmanuel Macron
Joe Biden did not wait to get to work until the transition process was officially initiated by the Trump administration. As in a parallel reality, without ever mentioning, or almost never, the billionaire and his legal remedies, the president-elect has started to prepare for taking office.
The Democrat, who will celebrate his 78 years in ten days, first drew up on Monday the outlines of his plan to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, his priority, the day the United States crossed the threshold of 10 million of identified cases of contamination. “Kamala Harris [sa future vice-présidente] and I waste no time. We are ready to bring the Covid-19 under control ”, he tweeted Tuesday after pleading with Americans to wear a mask the day before.
. @ KamalaHarris and I aren’t wasting any time. We’re ready to get COVID-19 under control so that we can reopen our b… https://t.co/tcozBzzzpY
The president-elect also began talks with foreign leaders on Monday with a call from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also spoke on Tuesday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said he was eager to “Strengthen the partnership” between the United Kingdom and the United States, with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and with the head of the Irish government, Micheal Martin. “I told them America was back” ; “It is no longer America alone”, he said during his press briefing on Tuesday, telling himself “Confident” in its ability to restore ” the respect “ international for his country.
During his first telephone conversation with Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden said he wanted “Revitalize bilateral and transatlantic relations, in particular through NATO and the European Union”, often abused by Donald Trump. The two men also discussed their future cooperation on the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and “The threat of climate change”, as well as on top “Security and development in Africa”, according to a statement released by the Democrat’s transition team.
Our selection of articles on the presidential election in the United States
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