Hours after a mob of angry Trump-supporters shook the very fundamentals of American democracy, President Donald Trump finally conceded and pledged an orderly transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden.

After spending months baselessly claiming that the elections were stolen from him, Trump said early Thursday that he would respect Congress' results of the election. However, he continued his false claims that the elections were stolen from him, a stance he has been pushing since November. A stance that led to an attack on the US Capitol.

Just as Congress convened to validate Joe Biden’s presidential win on Wednesday, thousands of angry Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol and clashed with police, resulting in casualty and multiple injuries.

However, despite the protests and objections, a joint session of the US Congress presided over by Vice President Mark Pence, declared the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Biden will be sworn-in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20.

Early Thursday, both the House and Senate, with an overwhelming majority, rejected the efforts by Republicans to object the acceptance of Electoral College win in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Shortly after the confirmation, White House Deputy Chief Of Staff Dan Scavino tweeted the following statement:

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”

Joe Biden and his running mate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris hit 306 electoral college votes, 36 more than required for a victory. Trump received only 232 votes.

First Published:Jan 7, 2021 2:37 PM IST