After mob disrupts proceedings, Congress turns back Electoral College challenge, certifying Biden as the next president

https://news.yahoo.com/after-mob-disrupts-proceedings-congress-turns-back-electoral-college-challenge-certifying-biden-as-the-next-president-083347509.html

Crystal Hill·Reporter
Thu, January 7, 2021, 3:33 AM EST

After an extraordinary act of violence from a riotous mob on Wednesday afternoon forced U.S. legislators to evacuate the Capitol during the counting of the Electoral College votes in the presidential election, Congress voted in the early morning hours of Thursday to certify the results showing President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump.

While a group of Republican lawmakers challenged the results in Arizona and Pennsylvania, those objections did not withstand a vote in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.

At approximately 3:33 a.m. ET on Thursday, Congress had certified enough electoral votes to surpass the 270 threshold that guaranteed Biden would become the 46th president, effectively ending a desperate bid by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the November election.

“The votes for president of the United States are as follows: Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the State of Delaware has receive 306 votes. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 232 votes,” Vice President Mike Pence declared.

“The announcement of the state of the vote,” Pence continued, “by the president of the Senate, shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January, 2021.”

Moments after Pence declared Biden the winner of the election, Trump released a falsehood-laden statement in which he pledged an “orderly transition” of power.

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As Capitol Police finally began clearing the building late in the afternoon, Trump issued a now deleted one-minute videotaped statement directed at the rioters that began by expressing sympathy for their “pain” and “hurt” before launching into a litany of his own grievances about “an election that was stolen from us.”

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While Thursday’s vote reached an explosive conclusion, the final results of the election were not all that close. Biden received 7 million more popular votes than Trump.

With his Electoral College votes certified by Congress, Biden is now set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20.

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