During the first presidential debate in September, Biden promised that he would not declare victory in the election until the results had been independently certified.
He answered affirmatively when “moderator” Chris Wallace asked him: "Will you urge your supporters to stay calm while the vote is counted? And will you pledge not to declare victory until the election is independently certified?”
Biden agreed, saying: “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.”
But all that fell by the wayside when he delivered a public victory speech with his family at his side on Saturday evening in which he claimed that he had a “clear victory” despite the fact that a slew of lawsuits and investigations into voter fraud are currently underway that could change everything.
Moreover, the results of the election have yet to be independently certified by any government office. In fact, the electoral college will not even be meeting until December 14. A handful of media outlets have already reversed course on some states that they called for Biden, such as Arizona, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
In addition, Biden’s team is pressuring the Trump administration to facilitate their transition to the Oval Office, yet the federal General Services Administration (GSA) has not yet ascertained Biden as the “apparent successful” candidate – something that must occur before any handover of power. It is this determination that would allow Biden staffers access to assess agency operations and federal money to start filling political appointments, the AP reports.
Let's take a look at what Biden said in his speech:
“The people of this nation have spoken. They delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for we the people. The most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation."
Not only did he not hold off on declaring victory as he claimed he would, he is already acting as though his potential presidency is a done deal. His transition team has been hard at work and he has already named a chief of staff in the form of his longtime aide, Ronald Klain, with more cabinet picks expected in the next few days.
He has also said outright that “the election is over,” telling people to wear masks despite having no authority at the moment.
The election is far from over, with the Trump campaign already challenging results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia, and more and more stories coming to light each day of widespread vote fraud. That’s hardly a “clear victory.”
Of course, he may not even remember making that promise as he has demonstrated serious shortcomings in mental acuity – and that’s putting it politely – but let’s be clear: The only people who have “declared” Biden as the winner have been some in the mainstream media and Biden and Harris themselves.
Whether this is a case of his memory continuing on its downward spiral or he intentionally lied as he has so many times in the past, this is surely just the first in a long line of promises Biden made in the run-up to the election that won't be kept.
Sources for this article include: