Obama congratulates Biden and Harris: 'Couldn't be prouder'

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (R) presents the Medal of Freedom to Vice-President Joe Biden during an event in the State Dinning room of the White House, January 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier Do …

Barack Obama congratulated his former vice president, Joe Biden, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, after Biden was projected to win the presidency Saturday.

"I could not be prouder to congratulate our next President, Joe Biden, and our next First Lady, Jill Biden," Obama said in a statement. "I also couldn't be prouder to congratulate Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff for Kamala's groundbreaking election as our next Vice President."

"[O]nce every vote is counted, President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris will have won a historic and decisive victory," he continued.

RELATED: Joe Biden projected as winner of 2020 presidential race after claiming Pennsylvania

The 44th president hit the campaign trail for Biden in the final stretch of the race, though Obama did not endorse his former running mate until April when the Democratic presidential primary was effectively over, something that President Trump used to criticize Biden. 

"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," Obama said in his statement on Saturday.

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The Fox News Decision Desk projected Saturday that Biden will win the state of Nevada and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, giving the Democrat the electoral votes he needs to win the White House.

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