Joe Biden declared victory on Saturday, dubiously calling for “a time to heal.” Let’s take a moment to appreciate the absurdity of Biden’s offer.

“To those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” Biden stated. “I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.” That’s rich, given the chance that he and his party steadfastly refused to give Trump over the past four years. He called for putting “away the harsh rhetoric,” but that’s coming from the one who labeled Trump a racist on national television and repeatedly lied about Trump’s Charlottesville comments, falsely accusing him of supporting neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Remember too that this follows a campaign where Biden personally blamed and vilified President Donald Trump for the deaths of more than 230,000 Americans through his supposed “failed” response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Undaunted, Biden obtusely contended, “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end here and now.” Who has done more to both instigate and push this demonization of the country — from its founding to its modern institutions — than the Left? Forgive us for believing that Biden’s call rings hollow.

In an attempt to set a magnanimous tone, Biden added, “Stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They’re Americans.” Well, thanks for finally acknowledging that, Joe, and deciding to call off the dogs. But where was this admonition months ago when leftist thugs were beating people in the streets because they dared to express their right to free speech and their support for Trump? Where was the condemnation of Black Lives Matter and antifa violence as they wreaked havoc across American cities by looting and burning down businesses in the name of “justice”? It wasn’t until the election drew near that Biden finally weighed in with weak repudiation of violence in general, all while he justified the anger and completely failed to identify the true culprits.

As a side note, where is the right-wing rioting, looting, and violence now that Trump has lost? It’s conspicuously absent. As the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal cogently observed, “All of this reveals the extent to which this year’s riots were part of a political strategy. They may have started as a protest against the death of George Floyd and police abuses against black men. But as the riots rolled on, the goal for many protesters and their cheerleaders was to show that the country had become ungovernable under Mr. Trump.”

The political party that exists by sowing division, discontent, and hate, that labels its opponents “deplorable,” “bigoted,” and “racist,” and that has set as its goal the fundamental remaking of the country it condemns as evil and systemically racist now wants the nation to coalesce under its puppet candidate? Fat chance.

What reason does any conservative or Republican have to believe the words coming out of Biden’s lying mouth?

Furthermore, the reason he won — if his victory is final, legitimate or not — is entirely on a platform of “I’m not Trump.” If he has any mandate, that’s it. Americans soundly rejected the Democrats’ extreme leftist agenda, as evidenced by down-ballot Republican victories. Most Americans want nothing of the Democrats’ socialist poison. And while many Americans may have tired of Trump’s “unpresidential” tone, there is little to indicate that they were unhappy with his America First agenda.

Offering simplistic platitudes that Biden has no intention of embracing is nothing but political pandering. Maybe the president-elect should focus on saving the soul of the wayward Democrat Party before he talks of restoring “the soul of America.” Honestly, the best advice we can give Biden if he wants any modicum of success is to reject the hard Left in his party and continue down the path Trump has blazed. If Biden truly wants to heal and strengthen the nation, he’ll reject the divisive demands of the “woke” social justice activists, climate alarmists, and Marxist race hustlers.

Sadly but predictably, he’s already instead sowing more division by promising a national mask mandate. That’s exactly the opposite of bringing the country together or preserving Americans’ freedoms.