'Democracy prevailed': Biden aims to unify nation

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden tells Americans on Monday that "democracy prevailed" as electors across the country cast votes affirming his victory in last month's election.

In a speech from his longtime home of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden aimed to guide Americans past the tumult of the campaign and President Donald Trump's refusal to accept defeat.

"If anyone didn't know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy," Biden plans to say, according to excerpts of the speech released by his campaign. "The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose the leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves."

After garnering a record of more than 81 million votes, Biden is trying to build momentum as he prepares to assume the presidency on Jan. 20. But he's faced headwinds as Trump has refused to concede and has instead pursued baseless legal challenges that have been roundly rejected by judges across the political spectrum, including the justices at the Supreme Court.

Though Trump's actions have threatened core democratic norms, including the peaceful transfer of power, Biden will argue that America's system of government remains in tact.

"In America, politicians don't take power — the people grant it to them," Biden will say. "The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic — or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame."

He will also pledge to be "a president for all Americans" who will "work just as hard for those of you who didn't vote for me, as I will for those who did."

Whether his message of unity will have any effect remains to be seen. Republicans have mostly continued to back Trump and his unsubstantiated claims of a rigged election and, even once Biden takes power, are unlikely to give him any of the traditional honeymoon period.