Biden, Harris Speak To The Nation; Senate Still Up In The Air

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden used his first national address as president-elect to vow to heal a deeply divided nation, declaring “let this grim era of demonization in American begin to end here and now.”

His calls for reconciliation at a Saturday evening victory celebration came even as President Donald Trump continued to argue that the election had been stolen from him, an indication that the divisive politics that have gripped the U.S. over the past four years are far from over. It also suggested that even as Biden seeks to build out a government during his transition to the White House, the president has little interest in helping him do so.

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris is paying tribute to the women, particularly Black women, whose shoulders she stands on as she shatters barriers in American politics. Harris addressed the nation as the next vice president on Saturday. She is the first woman to be elected vice president in America, but she says she will not be the last. The 56-year-old California senator is also the first Black woman and first person of Indian heritage elected to the vice presidency. She wore a white pantsuit on stage in tribute to women's suffrage.

Meanwhile, theThe Trump campaign and Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Saturday in Arizona that seeks the manual inspection of potentially thousands of in-person Election Day ballots in metro Phoenix that they allege were mishandled by poll workers and resulted in some ballot selections to be disregarded.

The legal challenge against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs centers on instances in which people are believed to have voted for more candidates than permitted.

While Biden has won the White House, control of the U.S. Senate likely won’t be decided until January.

Neither party is expected to be able to reach a majority before that. The tally is now 48 Republicans and 48 Democrats, with two Georgia races headed to a Jan. 5 runoff. Two other races in North Carolina and Alaska are still too early to call, but even if they were won by Republicans it wouldn't be enough. Republicans need 51 now to lock a majority, because the vice president of the party in the White House — which will be Kamala Harris — serves as a tie-breaker. That sets up a showdown in Georgia.