Obama, Michelle congratulate US President-elect, appreciate voters

The former US president, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have offered their congratulations to the country’s president-elect, Joe Biden.

While expressing his delight about the electoral victory, Obama maintained that he was proud to congratulate the next President and the First Lady, Jill Biden.

“I also couldn’t be prouder to congratulate Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff for Kamala’s groundbreaking election as our next Vice President,” Obama said.

The former president stated that this election, under circumstances never experienced, Americans turned out in numbers never seen.

“And once every vote is counted, President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris will have won a historic and decisive victory,” he said.

He said Americans were fortunate that Joe has gotten what it takes to be president and already carries himself that way.

Obama added that when Joe walks into the White House in January, he will face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has – a raging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk, and a climate in peril.

“I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote. So I encourage every American to give him a chance and lend him your support.

“The election results at every level show that the country remains deeply and bitterly divided.

“It will be up to not just Joe and Kamala, but each of us, to do our part – to reach out beyond our comfort zone, to listen to others, to lower the temperature and find some common ground from which to move forward, all of us remembering that we are one nation, under God,” he added.

While issuing her congratulations, Michelle expressed joy that the US has gotten a first Black and Indian-American Vice President-elect.

“I’m beyond thrilled that my friend Joe Biden and our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President, Kamala Harris, are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House. Our country sorely needs it,” Michelle wrote on Facebook page.

She thanked all the voters who poured every ounce of their hope and determination into this democracy over these past four years, registering voters, getting them to the polls, keeping folks informed.

“More votes were cast in this election than ever before. It’s because of you,” she said.

“And after we celebrate — and we should all take a moment to exhale after everything we’ve been through — let’s remember that this is just a beginning. It’s a first step.

“Voting in one election isn’t a magic wand, and neither is winning one. Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.

“But we’ve also got to recognize that the path to progress will always be uphill. We’ll always have to scrape and crawl up toward that mountaintop. And two years from now, four years from now, there will once again be no margin for error.

“We see now the reality that we can’t take even the tiniest part of our democracy for granted. Every single vote must count — and every single one of us must vote. And as a country, we should be making it easier, not harder to cast a ballot,” she added.