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EARLY IN HIS campaign for the presidency, Joe Biden rejected the notion that China was much of a worry. He argued that no leader in the world would trade the challenges facing China for their own. Chinas going to eat our lunch? Come on, man, Mr Biden scoffed. I mean, you know, theyre not bad folks, folks. But guess what? Theyre not competition for us. He was speaking in May 2019. Tempered by his contest with Donald Trump, who tried to rally support by highlighting the threat posed by China, Mr Biden now avoids such words. But as president, will his policy towards China be very different from Mr Trumps? He has yet to spell out his plans, but he will throw fewer wild punches.

Mr Bidens political rivals attacked his remarks in Iowa City, accusing him of being naive about China. Even some of his own advisers were troubled. At the time, Mr Biden was still bragging about the many hours he had spent with Xi Jinping when he served as vice-president under Barack Obama (he is well remembered in Beijing for dropping in at a neighbourhood eatery in 2011see picture). He was also being less blunt about Chinas hard authoritarian turn under Mr Xi. Since Mr Trump became president in 2017, relations between China and America have become much more hostile. But Mr Biden seemed stuck in the mindset of the Obama administration, which described its co-operation with China as unprecedented in scope. During the campaign Mr Biden had to be reprogrammed on China, says an adviser.

It seems to have worked. Mr Biden has since called Mr Xi a thug. He has criticised Mr Trump for praising Mr Xi (for example, during the early days of the covid-19 outbreak) and being indifferent towards, even tolerant of, Chinas human-rights abuses. In August his team accused China of genocide against ethnic Uyghurs in the far-western region of Xinjiang. Mr Biden finished his campaign sounding nothing like the candidate who started it or the administration he had once served. He was vowing to be tough on China.

China may be wondering whether all this is bombast. Before Mr Trumps presidency, there had been a long tradition of candidates berating China on the campaign trail, only to tone down their rhetoric and try to keep relations on an even keel once in office. Mr Bidens remarks give him wriggle-room to do the same. Despite referring to China as Americas biggest competitor, he has not called it the biggest threat. That, he says, is Russia (although the Biden administration is expected to keep the label of strategic competitor used under Mr Trump to describe China). Advisers to Mr Bidens team say there will be no reset in the relationship. But the president-elect does talk about co-operation with China on issues such as climate change and global health, which Mr Trump eschewed.

What can be discerned of Mr Bidens China policy looks like an amalgam of Mr Trumps and Mr Obamas: a Trumpian wariness of China combined with a preference for caution in handling strategic matters. He will be constrained by a Congress that has become far more hostile to China in recent years. A Senate that may remain in Republican control will restrict his freedom to appoint people who hawks fear will favour more engagement with China (see article). Public opinion may affect his policy, toonegative views of China have reached an historic high.

Of the many disputes between China and America that have grown more fraught under Mr Trump, trade is among the most bitterly contested. Mr Biden will inherit a smouldering trade war with China that was launched by Mr Trump in a vain attempt to reduce a soaring bilateral trade deficit. Unlike Mr Trump, Americas leader-in-waiting is no fan of using tariffs to achieve such goals. But he is unlikely to move swiftly to dismantle Mr Trumps tariffs on Chinese goodseven though they are, in effect, a tax that is mostly paid by American consumers. Some of Mr Bidens advisers hope that retaining them, at least for now, will give America leverage in negotiations with China over trade and other matters.

In the Obama era, Mr Biden supported efforts to forge a trade deal among 12 countries, including America, around the Pacifichoping it would eventually draw in China and bind it to Western trading norms. Mr Trump withdrew from that project. There is little chance that Mr Biden will resume interest in it. Winning approval from the Senate for multilateral trade pacts would be daunting, if not impossible.

Avoiding a hot war with China will also be a priority for Mr Biden. In recent months China has stepped up exercises in the Taiwan Strait and sent fighter jets on numerous sorties into Taiwanese airspace. Mr Biden will continue arms sales to Taiwan, which have picked up pace under Mr Trump. But he may scale back symbolic shows of support, such as high-level trips to Taiwan by cabinet members (in August Alex Azar, the health secretary, became the highest-ranking American to visit the island since America severed official ties with it in 1979). Some of Mr Bidens advisers see these as needlessly provocative.

But Mr Biden is likely to retain some of Mr Trumps toughest measures against China related to national security. He will persist with efforts to strangle Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant that America regards as a security threat, by keeping Trump-era restrictions on doing business with the firm (see Briefing). Mr Biden will stress the need for America to keep ahead of China in technology. Decoupling in high-tech areas will remain the trend. This may involve government support for making semiconductors in America to avoid reliance on ones made in China.

Despite its disregard for multilateral forums, the Trump administration did try to build the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a group of four China-sceptic countriesAmerica, Australia, India and Japaninto something sturdier. A military exercise involving all four members of the club took place this month in the Bay of Bengal. Mr Biden can be expected to continue efforts to beef up the Quad, as it is known (see Banyan). He will also maintain freedom of navigation patrols by the American armed forces in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Mr Obama was reticent about these, but they became routine under Mr Trump. Mr Biden will assure Chinas neighbours that America will be active in Asia; some allied diplomats in the region had grumbled that Mr Obamas pivot to Asia was too half-hearted.

Unlike Mr Trump, Mr Biden is expected to take a personal interest in the challenge posed by human-rights abuses in China, including repression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. He may make more effort to contest Chinas influence in the UN, where Mr Xi has sought to insulate himself from criticism of his human-rights record. Mr Biden is likely to maintain sanctions on China imposed by the Trump administration, including those on officials and companies deemed complicit in violating human rights. Soon after taking over he may stage an international Summit for Democracy to make his values clear.

But the next president will avoid giving the kind of fiery ideological speeches favoured by the likes of Mike Pompeo, Mr Trumps secretary of state, and William Barr, his attorney-general, who have described the Chinese Communist Party as an existential threat to the free world. Such rhetoric does not mesh well with his belief that America can still co-operate with China in some areas.

Mr Biden will abandon aspects of Mr Trumps China policy that he views as harmful to openness and tolerance. He may remove visa-related impediments, introduced by the Trump administration, to study in America by people from China. Mr Biden believes that more foreigners should be recruited to American campuses, and that America gains from their presence. Investigations will continue into suspected espionage involving Chinese researchers, but Mr Bidens administration may tone down Trumpian rhetoric that instilled fears among ethnic Chinese living in America of a red scare fuelled, in part, by racial hostility towards them.

Mr Biden will certainly avoid Mr Trumps use of racially charged language to describe covid-19s links with China. He can also be expected to rejoin the World Health Organisation and try to resume the stationing in China of specialists from Americas Centres for Disease Control, who used to work with their Chinese counterparts on public health.

In the battle against climate change, Mr Biden may seek to persuade China to stop building carbon-belching projects such as coal-fired power plants in other countries. Such efforts will be made easier by Americas rejoining, under Mr Biden, of the Paris agreement on climate change. In September Mr Xi announced a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. Some climate experts say Mr Biden should announce an even more ambitious climate target, and encourage a race with China to develop a green economy. That would mesh well with what Mr Bidens advisers believe should be a pillar of his China strategystrengthening America itself, including by spending more government money on renewable energy. But the Senate, if it remains in Republican control, could frustrate such ambitions.

It is not only Republicans who will limit Mr Bidens room for manoeuvre on China. Much of the machinery of governmentfrom the Commerce Department to intelligence agencieshas been recalibrated in response to Chinas growing challenge, with more staff and energy focused on the country and its transgressions than ever before. New laws, sanctions and other policies specifically targeting China are in place. This helps to keep China at the forefront of political debate and makes it more difficult for leaders to turn a blind eye to the Communist Partys bad behaviour. Its very different from the past when a new president came in and could very quickly if they wanted make significant changes, says Bonnie Glaser of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank.

In keeping with the new mood, Mr Biden is expected to send early signals that he intends to stand firm against China. Advisers suggest that he wait longer than usual to take a congratulatory call from Mr Xi, and not fall for any language Mr Xi may use to suggest a new framework for the relationship. Initially, at least, Mr Biden will focus on domestic issues like covid-19 and the economy, as well as on strengthening ties with allies. He will want their support when he turns his attention China-wards.

Mr Xi will surely look for a chance to test Mr Bidens mettle. In the build-up to a crucial Communist Party gathering in 2022, he will not wish to appear weak. How Mr Biden responds to any provocation will depend, in part, on the advice he receives from his senior officials. Some of those whom he is expected to pick as his national-security advisers are veterans of the Obama administration who shied away from confrontation with China. Others believe in more muscular responses to its increasingly assertive behaviour, including a clearer commitment by America to defend Taiwan against any Chinese attack. As vice-president Mr Biden displayed caution about the use of American force. In his dealings with China, the risk of a dysfunctional relationship turning into a violent one will loom large in his calculations.

Dig deeper:Read our latest coverage of the presidential transition, and then sign up for Checks and Balance, our weekly newsletter and podcast on American politics.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "To a different tune"

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Joe Bidens China policy will be a mix of Trumps and Obamas - The Economist

WASHINGTON Voters have decided that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. should guide the country through the next four years. But on issues of war, the environment, criminal justice, trade, the economy and more, President Trump and top administration officials are doing what they can to make changing direction more difficult.

Mr. Trump has spent the last two weeks hunkered down in the White House, raging about a stolen election and refusing to accept the reality of his loss. But in other ways he is acting as if he knows he will be departing soon, and showing none of the deference that presidents traditionally give their successors in their final days in office.

During the past four years Mr. Trump has not spent much time thinking about policy, but he has shown a penchant for striking back at his adversaries. And with his encouragement, top officials are racing against the clock to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, secure oil drilling leases in Alaska, punish China, carry out executions and thwart any plans Mr. Biden might have to reestablish the Iran nuclear deal.

In some cases, like the executions and the oil leases, Mr. Trumps government plans to act just days or even hours before Mr. Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

At a wide range of departments and agencies, Mr. Trumps political appointees are going to extraordinary lengths to try to prevent Mr. Biden from rolling back the presidents legacy. They are filling vacancies on scientific panels, pushing to complete rules that weaken environmental standards, nominating judges and rushing their confirmations through the Senate, and trying to eliminate health care regulations that have been in place for years.

In the latest instance, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to extend key emergency lending programs that the Federal Reserve had been using to help keep credit flowing to businesses, state and local governments and other parts of the financial system. He also moved to claw back much of the money that supports them, hindering Mr. Bidens ability to use the central banks vast powers to cushion the economic fallout from the virus.

Terry Sullivan, a professor of political science and the executive director of the White House Transition Project, a nonpartisan group which has studied presidential transitions for decades, said Mr. Trump was not behaving like past presidents who cared about how their final days in office shaped their legacy.

They are upping tension in Iran, which could lead to a confrontation. The economy is tanking and they are not doing anything about unemployment benefits, he said.

It is one final norm shattered by Mr. Trump and a stark contrast to the last Republican president who handed over power to a Democrat.

Former president George W. Bush consciously left it to his successor, Barack Obama, to decide how to rescue the auto industry and whether to approve Afghan troop increases. And when Congress demanded negotiations over the bank bailouts, Mr. Bush stepped aside and let Mr. Obama cut a deal with lawmakers even before he was inaugurated.

Aides to Mr. Bush said the outgoing president wanted to leave Mr. Obama with a range of policy options as he began his presidency, a mind-set clearly reflected in a 2008 email about negotiations over the status of American forces in Iraq from Joshua Bolten, Mr. Bushs chief of staff at the time, to John D. Podesta, who ran Mr. Obamas transition, just a week after the election.

We believe we have negotiated an agreement that provides President-Elect Obama the authorities and protections he needs to exercise the full prerogatives as commander in chief, Mr. Bolten wrote to Mr. Podesta on November 11, 2008, in an email later made public by WikiLeaks. We would like to offer, at your earliest convenience, a full briefing to you and your staff.

That has not been Mr. Trumps approach.

The president has continued to deny Mr. Biden briefings and access to agency officials delays that the president-elect has said threatened to undermine the countrys response to the pandemic. And far from seeking to help Mr. Bidens team, Mr. Trump has spent more than two weeks actively seeking to undermine the legitimacy of his victory.

Mr. Biden and his top aides have not publicly criticized the presidents policy actions at home or abroad, abiding by the tradition that there is only one president at a time. But the president-elect has vowed to move quickly to undo many of Mr. Trumps domestic and foreign policies.

That will most likely start with a blitz of executive actions in his first days in office, as well as an aggressive legislative agenda during his first year.

Some of Mr. Trumps advisers make no attempt to hide the fact that their actions are aimed at deliberately hamstringing Mr. Bidens policy options even before he begins.

One administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to talk publicly, said that in the coming days there would be more announcements made related in particular to China, with whom Trump advisers believe that Mr. Biden would try to improve relations.

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, defended the administrations actions, saying the president was elected because voters were tired of the same old, business-as-usual politicians who always pledged to change Washington but never did. Mr. Trump, he said, had rolled back regulations and brought accountability to agencies and remains focused on that important work.

Some previous transitions have also been rancorous. Incoming Bush administration officials accused the exiting Clinton White House of minor mischief, last-minute pardons to friends and delays because of the disputed 2000 election.

Mr. Trump has long alleged that after his election, he faced a stealth effort to undermine his transition because of the investigations that were underway into his campaigns possible connections to Russia. And there were documented instances of Obama officials making last-ditch efforts to put roadblocks in the way of what they expected would be Mr. Trumps policy reversals on immigration and other issues.

Still, in his inauguration speech, Mr. Trump said Mr. Obama and his wife had been magnificent in carrying out an orderly transition and thanked them for their gracious aid throughout the period.

And rarely in modern times have a president and his allies been as deliberate in their desire to hobble the incoming administration as Mr. Trump has been toward Mr. Biden.

Its not consistent with anything we experienced, said Denis McDonough, who served as Mr. Obamas chief of staff and was part of Mr. Obamas team during the transition from Mr. Bushs administration. He said Mr. Trumps actions in the final days of his administration were foreshadowed by his determination to sever agreements Mr. Obama had reached on climate change and Irans nuclear program something presidents rarely do.

The Presidential Transition

Nov. 21, 2020, 2:38 p.m. ET

Its a breach of that norm, Mr. McDonough said.

Some of Mr. Trumps actions are all but permanent, like the nomination of judges with lifetime appointments or the naming of his supporters to government panels with terms that stretch beyond Mr. Bidens likely time in office. Once done, there is little that the new president can do to reverse them.

But they are not the only nominees administration officials are trying to rush through.

Among the others are two nominees to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors who would serve until 2024 and 2030 respectively, a trio of possible members to the Federal Election Commission to serve six-year terms, as well as nominees to the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who, if confirmed, would prevent Mr. Biden from installing majorities on those bodies until well into 2021.

Other actions may be possible to reverse, but are designed to exact a political price for doing so.

Since the election, Mr. Trump has ordered the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Afghanistan, where Mr. Trump aims to halve an already pared-down force of 4,500 by the time he leaves office, defying the advice of some top generals.

Mr. Bidens vision for American troop deployments is not radically different: He has said that he supports only small numbers of combat forces, mainly tasked with fighting terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. But Mr. Trumps last-minute withdrawals could force Mr. Biden into an unwanted confrontation with Democrats in Congress if he decides he needs to return to the modest, pre-election status quo.

Analysts say that Mr. Trumps withdrawal of troops also deprives the United States of any leverage in the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Afghan government, potentially allowing the Taliban to make important military gains.

Trump officials are also working to impose new sanctions on Iran that may be difficult for Mr. Biden to reverse, out of a fear of opening himself up to charges that he is soft on one of the countrys most dangerous adversaries.

The sanctions could also undermine any move by Mr. Biden to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a step that would require providing Iran with economic breathing room after years of Mr. Trumps constrictions.

I think youre going to see a pretty rapid clip of new actions before January 20, said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who often consults with the Trump administration on Iran.

In an Oval Office meeting last week, Mr. Trump also asked his senior advisers what military options were available to him in response to Irans stockpiling of nuclear material, although he was dissuaded from pursuing the idea. Any military action would undermine attempts by Mr. Biden to reset American policy.

Similarly, Trump officials continue to take punitive actions against China that are likely to further strain the tense relationship with Beijing that Mr. Biden will inherit. Last week, Mr. Trump issued an executive order barring Americans from investing in Chinese companies with ties to Chinas military. Administration officials say more steps are in the works.

Mr. Mnuchins shutdown of emergency lending programs this week could also have long-lasting implications for Mr. Biden as the new president struggles to contain the economic fallout of the pandemic. The pandemic-era programs are run by the Fed but use Treasury money to insure against losses.

Mr. Mnuchin defended his decision on Friday, insisting that he was following the intent of Congress in calling for the Fed to return unused money to the Treasury. But it will be Mr. Biden who will be left to deal with the consequences. And restoring the programs would require new negotiations with a Congress that is already deadlocked over Covid relief.

In the summer of 2008, officials in Mr. Bushs White House sent a memo to agency officials warning them to wrap up new regulations and not to try to rush new ones in right before the next president. Mr. Trump is doing the opposite.

The Environmental Protection Agency is rushing to try to complete work on a new rule that will change the way the federal government counts costs and benefits, an adjustment that could make it harder for Mr. Biden to expand certain air or water pollution regulations.

At Health and Human Services, the agency moved just after Election Day to adopt a rule that would automatically suspend thousands of agency regulations if they are not individually confirmed to be still needed and having appropriate impacts. The agency itself called the plan radical realizing it would tie the hands of the next administration.

Brian Harrison, the agencys chief of staff, called it the boldest and most significant regulatory reform effort ever undertaken by H.H.S.

Michael Crowley, Nicholas Fandos, Maggie Haberman and Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting.

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Trump Using Last Days to Lock in Policies and Make Bidens Task More Difficult - The New York Times

Joe Biden won key several battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin. USA TODAY

Politicians on both sides of theaisle, including former Presidents, presidential candidates, and Congresspeoplehave taken to Twitter to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harrison clinching the victory over President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

"In 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," former President Barack Obamawrote in a lengthy statement issued on Twitter.

"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."

"America has spoken and democracy has won," tweeted former President Bill Clinton, less than an hour after the Associated Press officially called the election for Biden after nabbing the necessary electoral college votes.

Hillary Clinton also congratulated Biden and Harris on clinching the victory: "It's a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America."

Biden officially won by grabbing Pennsylvania's 20 votes, a crucial swing state in the election that Trump won in 2016.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who ran for the Democratic presidential ticket,congratulatedBiden and Harris for the win: "Lets go make some big, structural change."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), who competed against Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, tweeted a congratulations of not just the incoming President and Vice President, but of grassroots organizers: "I want to congratulate all those who worked so hard to make this historic day possible."

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was among the few Republicans to cross the aisle. "I will be praying for you and your success," the former Republican presidential prospect tweeted."Now is the time to heal deep wounds."

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who ranagainst former President Barack Obama in 2012,also tweeted congratulating Biden and Harris.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), following a congratulatory message,shared a days-old clip of CNN correspondent Abby Phillip discussing Trump's political career beginning with falsehoods accusing former President Barack Obama.

"Poetic justice," she said.

Below, see how politicians from former presidents to newly-elected Congresspeople have responded to Biden and Harris' win.

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote.

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Obama congratulates Biden, Harris, says it is up to them to mend 'deeply and bitterly divided' country - USA TODAY

But its diversifying electorate, suburban swings in Democrats' favor and a series of close calls there during Trump's presidency have turned Georgia into a battleground. And the presence of two Senate seats on the ballot have made it marquee in the race for control of Congress, as well.

Georgia, along with the other Sun Belt states, is likely to be among the fastest battlegrounds to report its results on election night. That reality makes the three states indicators of whether Biden is on course for a decisive win, or if the candidates are facing a much closer race that will be largely decided by Northern battlegrounds.

Biden isn't visiting Georgia himself in the final days of the race. But his campaign has dispatched its top surrogates to the state, including Obama's visit to Atlanta, where he campaigned with Democratic Senate candidates.

Obama told the crowd he hadn't originally planned to come to the state, but he said he was told Georgia "could be the place where we put this country back on track."

He hammered Trump for suggesting Sunday night that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert, after the election.

"One of the few people in this administration who's been taking this seriously all along, and what'd he say? His second term plan is to fire that guy," Obama said. "I mean, they've already said they're not going to contain the pandemic. Now they want to fire the one person who could actually help them contain the pandemic."

Obama's visit followed Biden's running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, visiting in Georgia on Sunday.

Harris campaigned alongside Stacey Abrams, the former gubernatorial nominee who has been at the center of Democrats' effort to expand the party's electorate there.

"All that we are looking to now in terms of Georgia and the prospect of what we might accomplish in this state, in large part, we have to say thank you Stacey Abrams for the work you have done," Harris said.

She sought to motivate Democratic voters there by pointing to the late Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who died this year, saying voters must "honor their ancestors" as she lambasted Trump's long history of racist comments and actions.

"It's not like it's a one-off. Don't forget when he was running for office and thinking about his political career, he had the gall to question the legitimacy of America's first Black president," Harris said of Trump, referring to his racist birther attacks on Obama.

Trump, meanwhile, visited Rome, Georgia, on Sunday night, delivering his stump speech and making clear he expects to win the state for a second time Tuesday. His presence in the state just days before the election underscored Republican concerns that Democrats could flip the state.

"I shouldn't even be here. They say I have Georgia made," Trump said.

Four years ago, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 5 percentage points in Georgia, a result that showed a state Republicans have dominated for more than two decades was becoming competitive.

But since then, Georgia has proved an elusive target for Democrats. In a 2017 special election for a House seat in the Atlanta suburbs, first-time candidate Jon Ossoff shattered fundraising records with a nearly $30 million haul -- a harbinger for the massive totals Democrats would raise over the next four years -- but fell short against Republican Karen Handel.

Handel then lost the seat to Democrat Lucy McBath in the 2018 midterm elections. But Democrats lost the biggest price: the governor's office, with former state House Democratic leader Abrams, who was seen as a generational rising star in the state's party, losing to Republican Brian Kemp in a close race, amid complaints that Kemp had mismanaged the state's election system in his post as secretary of state.

It was a frustrating blow and the latest in a long series of losses for Georgia Democrats. The party hasn't won major statewide races in Georgia in two decades: Bill Clinton was the party's last presidential candidate to carry the state in 1992; Democrats last won a governor's race in 1998 and a Senate race there in 2000, in a special election.

Still, its rapidly diversifying population and the suburban shift in Democrats' favor nationwide has made Georgia an attractive target.

Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said the state's evolution from 2016 -- with a network of female activists engaging starting in the 2017 House special election, through Abrams' party-building in 2018, and protests over racial injustice in 2020 -- has built the moment party loyalists there have been waiting for.

"It's that perfect opportunity where people are still active and engaged, and the women who were activated after the 2016 election never left the party; never left their activism, and have continued to build at this date. ... Everything coming together in this pivotal moment," Williams said. "Georgia is ready to flip right now, because of all of the work that has happened."

In addition to Georgia's 16 electoral votes at stake in the presidential race, Democrats are closely watching two Senate races in Georgia: Ossoff's challenge to Republican Sen. David Perdue, and a special election in which Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock faces several opponents, including incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. If no candidate crosses the 50% threshold, one or both Senate races could then move to a runoff election featuring the top two finishers.

Obama also criticized Perdue and Loeffler, the two Republican incumbent senators.

"Your two senators publicly were telling you that the virus would be no big deal. But behind closed doors, they were making a bunch of moves in the stock market to try to make sure their portfolios were protected instead of making sure you were protected. Man, that's shady," Obama said.

Obama called Loeffler and Perdue "the dynamic duo of doing wrong" and said "Georgia was definitely not on their mind."

If election night goes perfectly for Georgia Democrats, they also have a shot at flipping enough seats to take control of the state House of Representatives. Such a win could pay dividends on the national and state levels for a decade, because it would give Democrats a seat at the table when the legislature redraws congressional and state legislative district lines next year during the once-a-decade redistricting process.

Democrats have also turned Georgia into a costly state for the GOP to defend: Biden and the Democratic National Committee have spent more than $10 million on television ads in Georgia. Trump and the Republican National Committee, meanwhile, have spent more than $23 million on ads there.

Biden chose Warm Springs, Georgia -- the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Little White House," where he recovered from polio -- to deliver what his campaign characterized as his final argument in the 2020 race last Tuesday.

The speech underscored how -- even as the coronavirus pandemic has upended the campaign and American life -- Biden's central message has largely remained unchanged since he launched his campaign in April 2019, criticizing Trump on moral grounds.

"I believe this election is about who we are as a nation, what we believe, and maybe most importantly, who we want to be. It's about our essence; it's about what makes us Americans. It's that fundamental," Biden said.

This story has been updated with Obama's remarks in Atlanta.

CNN's Jasmine Wright contributed to this report.

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Obama heads to Georgia as Democrats seek breakthrough that has eluded them in Trump era - CNN

Following the official announcement that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won the 2020 presidential election, former First Lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris's run. Obama shared a post of Harris and Biden on her Instagram, recognizing Harris's history-making run as the first Black and Indian woman to run as vice president on a major political party's ticket in the U.S.

"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. Thank you to all of you who poured every ounce of your 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. And after we celebrate and we should all take a moment to exhale after everything weve been throughlet's remember that this is just a beginning. Its a first step. Voting in one election isnt 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. Weve 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. Well 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 cant 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. So it's up to us to stay engaged and informed, to keep speaking out and marching on. Weve got to vote in even greater numbers in the upcoming Senate runoffs in Georgia and every state and local election going forward. Weve got to promise each other that our focus in this election wont be an anomaly, but the rule. That's how we can not only feel this way right now, but in the months and years ahead. Its the only way well build a nation worthy of our children. My warmest congratulations again to Joe and Jill, Kamala and Doug and each of you who stepped up when your country needed you."

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Obama previously celebrated Harris being named Biden's VP pick on her Instagram in August. Obama wrote:

Change can be slow and frustrating, but signs of progress are all around us. This week Senator @KamalaHarris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, became the first Black woman and first Asian-American woman on a major partys presidential ticket. Ive been thinking about all those girls growing up today who will be able to take it for granted that someone who looks like them can grow up to lead a nation like ours. Because @KamalaHarris may be the first, but she wont be the last.

I am here for it all. Let us embrace and celebrate this moment. Go get em girl.

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Former president Barack Obama celebrated his former vice president's win with the following post:

"I could not be prouder to congratulate our next President, Joe Biden, and our next First Lady, Jill Biden. I also couldnt be prouder to congratulate Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff for Kamalas groundbreaking election as our next Vice President. In 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. Were fortunate that Joes got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way. Because when he walks into the White House in January, hell 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 hell 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. Finally, I want to thank everyone who worked, organized, and volunteered for the Biden campaign, every American who got involved in their own way, and everybody who voted for the first time. Your efforts made a difference. Enjoy this moment. Then stay engaged. I know it can be exhausting. But for this democracy to endure, it requires our active citizenship and sustained focus on the issues not just in an election season, but all the days in between. Our democracy needs all of us more than ever. And Michelle and I look forward to supporting our next President and First Lady however we can."

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The bromance is back, people.

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Michelle Obama Pays Tribute to the 'First Black and Indian-American Woman Vice President, Kamala Harris' - ELLE.com