US elections: Biden promises to act against Covid-19 crisis from "day one" of his presidency

Sylvie claire / November 7 

Joe Biden is set to win the White House race against Donald Trump, but the slow ballot count still kept America - and the world - in suspense, three days after the poll.

Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden on Friday night called on Americans to "come together" to overcome "anger" as he was close to winning the election against Donald Trump, who denounced a "stolen ballot" ".

"It is time to come together," Barack Obama's former vice president said in a brief speech, still awaiting the outcome of Tuesday's poll.

"My dear Americans, we still do not have a final declaration of a victory but the figures offer a clear and convincing picture: we are going to win this election", he declared, showing himself confident, as the day before, on the outcome of the interminable count.

Joe Biden, 77, highlighted the progress of the count in his favor over the past 24 hours, recalling that he had since passed Donald Trump in the count still underway in the key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

He said he was going to win those two states. “We win in Arizona. We win in Nevada,” he added. "We are on the way to winning 300 voters," said the Democratic candidate. That is well beyond the "magic number" of 270 large voters - the majority of the electoral college - opening the doors of the White House.

An action plan from day one

As the day before, however, he called for patience, even risking a touch of humor in speaking of the drip of results which have fallen since Tuesday and fascinates, or irritates, Americans. "I know that watching this vote count slowly increase on television can be mind-numbing," he blurted out, before resuming a presidential tone, interrupted by a few sputtering:

"But never forget, these counts are not just numbers, they represent votes. Men and women who have exercised their fundamental rights. »

Also stressing the heavy toll of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, with more than 235,000 dead, he promised to implement from the "first day" of his presidency his action plan against the virus. "It will not be able to save the lives that have been lost but it will save lives in the coming months," he said, his running mate Kamala Harris standing at his side, masked, without making a speech like the day before.