US President-elect Joe Biden says that incumbent President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election is “an embarrassment”, while Trump continues tweeting allegations of voter fraud, saying that he won the election.
Speaking on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, his home state, Biden answered questions from a reporter asking what he thought of President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge defeat.
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Biden said, according to BBC.
“The only thing that, how can I say this tactfully, I think it will not help the president’s legacy.”
The President-elect says that the matter will be put to bed by the time inauguration day comes around.
“At the end of the day, you know, it’s all going to come to fruition on January 20,” he added.
Biden, who will be turning 78 next week, also said that he’s received calls from other world leaders and has assured them that the United States will once again be a leader on the global stage.
Referring to calls from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Biden said, “I’m letting them know that America is back. We’re going to be back in the game.”
Biden also downplayed concerns over the General Services Administration’s refusal to acknowledge his electoral victory. The little-known government agency, which co-ordinates funding and access to federal departments for incoming administrations, is refusing to acknowledge Biden’s status as President-elect.
“We don’t see anything slowing us down, quite frankly,” Biden said when asked about it.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been sending out rapid fire tweets, reiterating his belief that the election was stolen from him, with all-caps messages, saying “massive ballot counting abuse” and “We will win!”
WE WILL WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2020
His tweets were labelled as “disputed” by the social media network, with Trump yet to provide any evidence so far that Biden was only able to win the election through electoral corruption. Meanwhile, other Republican leaders are refraining from acknowledging Mr Biden’s projected victory.
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said that once every “legal” vote was counted a “second Trump administration” would begin, while Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell said Trump has every right to launch legal challenges to the result in several battleground states such as Pennsylvania. The only Republicans to break with party lines are the likes of Senators Susan Collins, Ben Sasse and Mitt Romney, who have already distanced themselves from Trump before.
Part of the issue is that, with so many Republican voters completely loyal to Trump, leaders whose loyalty to the incumbent President is put under question are putting their careers at risk. This was the case with several Trump loyalists that turned against him, such as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and ousted National Security Advisors John Bolton and Michael Flynn.
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