November 11, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Despite having declared a “clear victory” in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, at the first Presidential debate, Joe Biden said with a resounding “yes” that he would not declare himself a “winner” until the election results were independently certified.
Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News asked Biden directly if he would urge his “supporters to stay calm while the vote is counted,” and if he would “pledge not to declare victory until the election is independently certified?”
To Wallace's question, Biden answered with a firm “yes.”
“Yes. And here’s the deal. We count the ballots, as you pointed out. Some of these ballots in some states can’t even be opened until election day. And if there’s thousands of ballots, it’s going to take time to do it,” said Biden.
“I will accept it, and he will too. You know why? Because once the winner is declared after all the ballots are counted, all the votes are counted, that’ll be the end of it. That’ll be the end of it. And if it’s me, in fact, fine. If it’s not me, I’ll support the outcome. And I’ll be a president.”
The first presidential debate between current President Donald Trump and former vice-president Biden was held on September 29, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Biden delivered his “victory” speech on November 7. Earlier that day, and despite the fact no official winner has yet to be certified, multiple mainstream media outlets such as the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, and the New York Times declared Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris as the “winners” of the 2020 election.
This Monday, Biden said at a “COVID-19 Briefing” that the election “was over” while giving remarks at a press conference in Delaware.
“I will be a President for every American, this election is over,” said Biden Monday.
“I won’t be president until January 20, but my message today is to everyone, it doesn’t matter who you voted …..we can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months.”
Trump himself has not conceded and has instead launched a legal challenge to the results which he said cannot be trusted and are fraught with “fraud.”
On November 7, Trump said that “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed.”
“The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states.”
Many world leaders were quick to congratulate Biden’s “win,” notably Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who on November 7 sent out a statement declaring his congratulations for Biden and Harris, addressing them as President and Vice-President “elect” in his message.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also jumped on the Biden congratulations bandwagon as well, congratulating him as the second “Catholic” President.
Their message was blasted by Archbishop Viganò as “disturbing.”
Not all world leaders congratulated Biden after his declared “win.”
Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said that he would not be congratulating either Biden or Trump as “winners” and would wait instead until official results were declared from the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s Secretary of State announced today that there will be a “hand recount” of the ballots in the Peach State.