Pelosi celebrates 'dawning of a new day of hope' after Joe Biden projected to win presidency

close

Video

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confident in a Biden win

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters during a news conference that she's confident Joe Biden will beat President Trump and Democrats are ready to work with Joe Biden on fighting the coronavirus.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., released a statement following Joe Biden’s projected win of the presidency, celebrating the "dawning of a new day of hope for America."

"In President-elect Joe Biden, Americans elected a leader ready on Day One to finally begin to crush the coronavirus so we can safely reopen our economy and schools," the speaker said. "In President-elect Biden, the American people delivered a mandate for lower health costs, a mandate for creating bigger paychecks by rebuilding America's infrastructure, and a mandate for cleaner government that works for the public interest, not the special interests."

“And in President-elect Biden, they have elected a unifier who values faith, family and community, and who will work tirelessly to heal our nation,” she continued.

Pelosi’s statement follows her announcement that she will run again for the House speakership, despite losing ground in the House but maintaining the Democrats’ majority. As of 2 p.m. Friday, seven Democrats lost their House reelection races.

The Democratic Caucus in the House expressed optimism that they will have a "close partnership" with the new president. 

"The people have spoken and Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. The sacred process of counting each and every vote continues," House Democrats wrote in a statement. 

"From day one, the House Democratic Caucus will have a close partnership with the new president to decisively crush the virus, provide direct relief to everyday Americans who are struggling and revive our nation’s economy," they continued. 

The caucus called on Senate Republicans to work with them on Covid relief. 

"The American people have already been waiting for months for President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell to address their suffering and save lives from this deadly pandemic. Now that Americans have also made it clear at the ballot box that they are ready for relief, Senate Republicans must work with us immediately to send bipartisan legislation to the president for his swift signature."

A year and a half after launching his White House bid, Biden secured enough states to put him over the threshold of 270 electoral votes and bring an end to the four game-changing years of the Trump presidency. 

BIDEN WINS PRESIDENCY, TRUMP DENIED SECOND TERM 

The win comes as a stunning upset to the Trump campaign, after the president cleared the board electorally in 2016, winning 304 votes. This time around, Trump lost Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona-- all states he won in 2016. Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Michigan were previous Democratic strongholds that he flipped that year, before narrowly losing hold of them this year.

In a statement Saturday, Trump did not concede and instead vowed to continue his fight.

"The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor," the president said.

PELOSI FORMALLY ANNOUNCES SPEAKERSHIP RUN 

He added: "Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated."

Back in the House, the party breakdown currently stands at 211 for Democrats to 194 for Republicans with 30 races yet to be called. Republicans believe as the counting continues they'll flip more seats and their ranks could swell to 208 members and beyond.

But this year will be different with the smaller numbers for Democrats.

Pelosi needs the majority of votes on the House floor to win the speakership. So if the House is 435 members, that's 218 votes. 

Republicans, gleeful about their gains, have already predicted Pelosi is in trouble.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW HOUSE RESULTS

"I mean Nancy Pelosi doesn't even have a majority where she can be elected speaker again," Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Wednesday. "Whoever would have guessed that it'd be possible that Nancy Pelosi might not be the speaker?"

Fox News’ Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.