WILMINGTON, Del. -- President-elect Joe Biden appealed for unity Wednesday in a Thanksgiving-eve address to the nation asking Americans to "steel our spines" for a fight against the coronavirus that he predicted would continue for months.
But even as he implored Americans to join in healing and common purpose, President Donald Trump asserted that the election should be overturned.
With covid-19 cases surging nationwide, Biden called on Americans to take precautions to try to stem the tide of the virus, by wearing masks and practicing social distancing. While he said the federal government has "vast powers" to combat the virus, "the federal government can't do it alone."
"Each of us has a responsibility in our own lives to do what we can to slow the virus," he said in remarks in Wilmington.
"This is the moment where we need to steel our spines," Biden said. "Redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to the fight."
He later added: "Hang on. Don't let yourself surrender to the fatigue, which I understand -- it is real fatigue. I know we can and we will beat this virus. America is not going to lose this war. We'll get our lives back. Life is going to return to normal, I promise you."
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Biden said that, until there's a vaccine, wearing masks, social distancing and limiting the size of gatherings "are our most effective tools to combat the virus." But he pledged that from the start of his presidency, "we will take steps that will change the course of the disease," including increasing testing, providing more protective gear and clearer guidance for businesses and schools to reopen.
And he said that he was taking precautions around Thanksgiving and eschewing his traditional large family gathering, instead spending the holiday with just his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
But Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and other members of his legal team met Pennsylvania Republican state senators in Gettysburg. There, they again repeated allegations of Democratic malfeasance.
Trump joined the meeting from the Oval Office, asserting: "This was an election that we won easily. We won it by a lot."
In his remarks in Wilmington, Biden made passing reference to Trump's refusal to concede, declaring "our democracy was tested this year" but "the people of this nation are up to the task."
"In America, we have full and fair and free elections, and then we honor the results," he said. "The people of this nation and the laws of the land won't stand for anything else."
He also offered an optimistic vision, calling on Americans to "dream again" and predicting that "the 21st century is going to be an American century."
Biden's remarks came as covid-19 cases are surging nationwide. Hospitalizations, deaths and the rate of positive tests were also up sharply as the nation approached Thanksgiving, and public health experts have warned that the large family gatherings expected for the holiday are likely to extend and exacerbate the surge.
Biden has said turning the tide of the pandemic will be the top priority of his administration once he takes office in January, and he's made multiple public remarks urging Americans to embrace mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines to combat the spread.
The Democratic president-elect formed a coronavirus advisory board of scientists, doctors and public health experts, and he plans to establish a covid-19 coordinator in the White House to lead his administration's response.
This week, however, Biden focused beyond the crisis stateside and unveiled his national security team Tuesday, including his nominees for secretary of state, director of national intelligence and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Biden said that the team "reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it."
He's also expected to name Janet Yellen as treasury secretary in the coming weeks.
The president-elect's team has also begun the next phase of its transition preparations after the Trump-appointed head of the General Services Administration declared Biden the "apparent winner" of the election, removing a major roadblock to cooperation between Biden's staff and their counterparts in the Trump administration.
Since Monday night, the Biden-Harris transition team has made contact or met with more than 50 major federal agencies and commissions, and held more than 30 virtual briefings, said Kate Bedingfield, a spokesman for the Biden-Harris transition team. She praised civil servants assisting with the transition from the Trump administration for being "professional and welcoming" and for beginning to prepare for this moment weeks ago. She thanked them for clearing their schedules and, at in-person meetings, offering coffee and meals.
Biden is now receiving classified information and expects to start in-person security briefings next week, the aides said. The process of background checks for political appointees has begun, and some members of the transition team have begun to receive government-issued laptops.
For the next few days, Biden plans to spend some time focused on his family. He's traveling with his wife, Jill, to Rehoboth Beach, the small Delaware beach town where the two have a vacation home. That's where they'll host their daughter and son-in-law for Thanksgiving dinner. Biden is expected to stay through the weekend in Rehoboth, before returning to Wilmington for further work on the transition.
Information for this article was contributed by Alexandra Jaffe of The Associated Press; and by Jenna Johnson, Amy B Wang and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post.
