Gov. DeSantis Calls Trump’s Departure ‘Unfortunate’ but Stops Short of Calling Biden the President-Elect

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is addressing President Donald Trump’s exit from the White House but is slow to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

DeSantis called Trump’s departure “unfortunate” for Florida because he may not “be a phone call away from getting everything done soon.”

A reporter asked DeSantis Tuesday if he will admit Biden is the president-elect.

“It’s not for me to do, here’s what I would say… Obviously, we did our thing in Florida. The college voted. What’s going to happen is going to happen,” DeSantis said.

He added, “I think a lot of the frustration for folks that supported the president was… we were four years with people not accepting him. I mean Hillary, the last week of the election, was saying Putin stole it.”

Check out his remarks below:

DeSantis indicated he is willing to work with “whoever we need to be able to do right by the state of Florida.”

Trump refuses to concede the election and made it clear he is not giving up.

He sent a message to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after the senator congratulated Biden on the Senate floor Tuesday, as IJR previously reported.

“Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot),” Trump tweeted. “Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Trump to follow in McConnell’s footsteps, as IJR previously reported.

“And for the sake of the country, President Trump should take his cue from Leader McConnell that it’s time to end his term with a modicum of grace and dignity — qualities that his predecessors took great pains to display during our grand tradition of a peaceful transfer of power,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was pressed on if Trump acknowledges Biden as president-elect.

“The president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election,” she said during Tuesday’s press briefing.