South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was among world leaders to congratulate United States presidential election winner Joe Biden and his Democratic Party running mate on Saturday, after Biden – the former U.S. vice president under Barack Obama – was assured of victory.
“We congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the American people on your election,” said Ramaphosa. “We look forward to working with you and deepening our bonds of friendship and cooperation.”
He was joined by President Macky Sall of Senegal, who offered his “warmest congratulations,” and a number of other world leaders who reached out to Biden despite the absence of President Donald Trump’s concession speech. To the contrary, Trump and his advisors remained adamant about their refusal to accept the result, continued to claim fraud and illegal voting, and vowed to pursue every possible legal route before conceding the loss.
Meanwhile, Biden was set to address his supporters in his home state of Delaware on Saturday night and continued to stress a message of unity. Biden’s appeals for calm came even as protesters took to the streets in cities like New York and Phoenix, and armed Trump supporters took to the steps of the legislature building to dispute the results in the capital of the key voting state of Pennsylvania.
Although some vote counting continued in several states, none of the remaining ballots were expected to change the outcome, with nearly 75 million people voting for Biden overall and the president-elect picking up at least 290 electoral votes. The U.S. system requires 270 electoral votes to win, with the count determined by each of the outcomes in all 50 states.