WASHINGTON – President Biden grinned and cheerfully greeted his staff before declaring “setbacks are inevitable” in his first public remarks since Vice President Kamala Harris' crushing election loss. .
Biden, 81, touted his accomplishments Thursday morning and blew a kiss to his outgoing team. But he did not mention Harris, 60, who fell short of President-elect Donald Trump after the incumbent was forced to leave by Democratic leaders who questioned him. The sharpness of his mind.
He also called on Americans to unite despite his fiery comments last week in which he called Donald Trump's supporters “trash.”
“Setbacks are inevitable, but giving up is not an option. We all get knocked down sometimes, but as my father said, the measure of our humanity is how quickly we bounce back,” Biden said. He spoke in a seven-minute speech at the Garden.
“Remember, defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling you to rise.”
In his speech, Biden praised his accomplishments and said many of the effects of infrastructure and environmental spending won't be fully felt until 10 years from now.
“You can't love your country only when you win. You can't love your neighbor only when you agree with it,” Biden said — echoing his own attack on supporters of the Republican nominee last Tuesday. in spite of.
“Regardless of who you voted for, what I hope we can do is lower the temperature and look at each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans,” Biden said.
“We accept the choice the country has made,” he said.
Biden said Harris ran an “inspirational” campaign and “gave her heart and soul.”
“She and her entire campaign should be proud of the campaign she ran.”
Mr. Biden was forced to abandon his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in late July, giving Ms. Harris an abbreviated 107 days to campaign and, after a strong start in polling and fundraising, win all seven battleground states. It was a crushing defeat.
The outgoing president fiercely clung to power, refusing to stand aside after a disastrous June 27 debate with President Trump, but former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Chuck Schumer Senate Majority Leader (D-N.Y.) and former President Barack Obama, their allies, ultimately ousted him.
