Biden's unity appeal runs up against Trump bid to deny him White House

On a day of grace and grievance, Democrat Joe Biden summoned his compatriots to join in common purpose against the coronavirus pandemic and their political divisions while US President Donald Trump stoked the fading embers of his campaign to "turn the election over".

Biden, in an address to the nation on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, put the surging pandemic front and center, pledging to tap the "vast powers" of the federal government and to "change the course of the disease" once he enters the White House. But for that to work, he said, people must step up for their own safety and that of their fellow citizens.

"I know the country has grown weary of the fight," Biden said on Wednesday. "We need to remember we're at war with the virus, not with one another. Not with each other."

Trump, who has scarcely mentioned the pandemic in recent days even as infections reached record heights, remained fixated on his defeat in this month's election.

He sent his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other members of his legal team to meet Pennsylvania Republican state senators in Gettysburg. Inside a hotel near hallowed battlefields of the American Civil War, they again aired complaints about the election and repeated allegations of Democratic malfeasance that have already disintegrated under examination by courts.

"We have to turn the election over," Trump said from the Oval Office, where he joined the meeting by speakerphone.

"This was an election that we won easily," he said. "We won it by a lot."

In fact, the election gave Biden a clear mandate, and no systemic fraud has been uncovered. Judge after judge has dismissed the Trump campaign's accusations as baseless, and the transition to Biden's presidency is fully underway.

Nevertheless, Trump repeated on the call:" This election has to be turned around."

Trump had been expected to appear in person in Gettysburg, until another member of his legal team tested positive for the coronavirus. Few at the meeting wore masks.

Flynn pardoned

The president followed up by pardoning former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the second Trump associate granted clemency among those convicted in a probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Moscow has denied claims of meddling.

For his part, Biden has largely projected serenity as the necessary elements of a presidential transition - money, access to office space and more - were held at bay for nearly three weeks by Trump's tactics and a delayed ascertainment by the General Services Administration that he had won the Nov 3 election.

Biden pledged more virus testing, more protective gear and clearer guidance for businesses and schools to reopen when he becomes president. Until vaccines are distributed, he said, masks, social distancing and limits in the size of gatherings "are our most effective tools to combat the virus".

Biden's remarks came as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide. Hospitalizations, deaths and the testing positivity rate were also up sharply as the nation headed into Thanksgiving, and public health experts have warned that the large family gatherings expected for the holiday are likely to extend and exacerbate the surge.

He has formed a coronavirus advisory board of scientists, doctors and public health experts, and plans to establish a COVID-19 coordinator in the White House to lead his administration's response.

This week, however, Biden focused beyond the crisis at home and unveiled his national security team on Tuesday, including his nominees for secretary of state and director of national intelligence. Drawing implicit contrasts with Trump, Biden said the team "reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it". He is also expected to name Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary in the coming weeks.

Agencies and Ai Heping in New York contributed to this story.