Republicans lawmakers who’d so far refused to acknowledge the Democrats’ victory in the 2020 presidential election began to admit the inevitable on Tuesday.
The GOP leadership’s recognition of the loss comes the day after the Electoral College voted overwhelming for President- and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, 302-232, and more than a month after news outlets called the race and the defeat of incumbent President Donald Trump by more than 7 million votes.
A warning
On a private caucus call Tuesday, Republicans were warned by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “not to object to the election results on Jan. 6,” when Congress confirms the Electoral College results, Politico reported.
“McConnell expressed concern about such a vote, because the GOP would have to vote it down — something that could damage incumbents up for reelection in 2022,” according to Axios.
“It would be great if there were no members that took up that issue,” said Republican Majority Whip Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Axios reported. Sen. Roy Blunt, the Republican Policy Committee chairman, shared the same sentiment during the call, according to Axios and Politico.
Blunt acknowledged the Biden-Harris victory on Monday, saying “there’s clearly a constitutional president-elect,” Politco reported.
“I understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election,” said Thune on Monday, according to Politico. “But in the end at some point you have to face the music. And I think that once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it’s time for everybody to move on.”
Biden will be confirmed by Congress Jan. 6 and then inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Senate Majority Leader congratulates Biden
McConnell offered his congratulations to Biden and Kamala on Tuesday.
“The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years,” McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor, according to CSPAN.
“Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time,” McConnell, of Kentucky, said of California Sen. Harris.
The majority leader said “many millions of us had hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.”
According to The Hill and The New York Times, McConnell’s acknowledgment of the 2020 presidential election results came at the end of a Senate floor speech touting what he saw as outgoing President Donald Trump’s accomplishments.
McConnell called Trump an “outsider who swore he would shake up Washington and lead our country to new accomplishments at home and abroad and proceeded to do exactly that,” The New York Times reported.
Asked last week if he thought Biden to be the president-elect, the majority leader said “the Electoral College is going to meet on the 14th and cast a vote and we’re going to have a swearing in of the next president on the 20th of January. Why don’t we concentrate on what we have to do the next two weeks?” reported The Hill.