WILMINGTON, Del. (KYW Newsradio) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke from the Chase Center in Wilmington Friday night, where he'd hoped to deliver a victory speech to supporters. What he gave, instead, was another appeal for patience.
The former vice president's campaign had planned a party with fireworks and confetti cannons. Instead, his speech was projected to a mostly empty parking lot.
Though he couldn't declare victory, Biden gave himself some credit.
"We are going to be the first Democrat to win Arizona in 24 years. We are going to be the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years," he said.
"And we re-built the Blue Wall in the middle of the country that crumbled just four years ago. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. The heartland of this nation."
He included a message that is often the theme of victory speeches: a call for unity.
"We may be opponents, but we are not enemies. We are Americans," he appealed.
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"It's time for us to come together as a nation and heal. It won't be easy, but we must try. My responsibility as president will be to represent the whole nation. And I want you to know, that I will work as hard for those who voted against me as for those who voted for me.
"That's the job. It's called a duty of care. For all Americans," he said.
Biden told supporters he is not waiting for the final vote tally to get to work, but that he is already meeting with experts to control the pandemic and restart the economy, projecting confidence and asking for patience.
"Let the process work out as we count all the votes. We are proving again what we have proved for 244 years in this country. Democracy works. Your vote will be counted," he said.