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Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump accepted on Thursday he’d have a single-term presidency and promised an “orderly transition” after Congress ratified the electoral victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
“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,” Trump said in a statement on Twitter by one of his top advisors, Dan Scavino.
“I have always said that 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,” he added, citing his election slogan.
Trump’s statement was released via Scavino after his own Twitter account was temporarily suspended after he posted a video in which he insisted that there was a fraud, but asked his followers to go home in peace and respect law and order.
His message came minutes after Congress ratified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in a normally ceremonial gesture that led to one of the darkest days in U.S. history.
Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the session, declared in the session that congressional ratification should be considered “enough” to accept Biden’s election.
Pence eventually ended a session that began early Wednesday afternoon and was interrupted by the extraordinary assault on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, a siege that lasted nearly four hours and resulted in four dead, 14 police wounded and at least 52 arrested.
About two hours after the authorities managed to clear the Capitol and its surroundings, both chambers of Congress met again to continue with the process of ratifying the result of the elections, which had been already confirmed in December by the Electoral College.
