McConnell Avoids Calling Biden the President-Elect: ‘This Has Become a Weekly Ritual’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is still unwilling to publicly state that President-elect Joe Biden is the winner of the November 3 presidential election. During a press conference on Tuesday, McConnell…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is still unwilling to publicly state that President-elect Joe Biden is the winner of the November 3 presidential election.
During a press conference on Tuesday, McConnell was asked, “Are you willing to acknowledge that Joe Biden is the President-elect?”
“This has become a weekly ritual,” McConnell responded.
He continued, “The Electoral College is going to meet on the fourteenth and cast a vote. We’re going to have a swearing-in of the next president on the twentieth of January. Why don’t we concentrate on what we have to do the next two weeks?”
“Let me say again, leaving here without a Covid relief package cannot happen. We have to get that done. I think both sides fully understand that,” he added.
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McConnell also vowed that the Senate would continue to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees to “essential agencies” such as the Federal Election Commission and federal district court judges.
“So, I want to concentrate on the next two weeks, and the period beyond that will take care of itself,” McConnell said.
His comments come after all three Republicans on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) — of which he is a member — blocked a resolution that would have acknowledged Biden as the president-elect.
The text of the resolution read that the committee was “preparing for the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr.”
It added that the planning was being done “in coordination with public health experts to ensure the health and safety of the American people as we observe this transition of power.”
While Biden has secured the required number of electoral votes to win the White House, Trump has refused to concede the election and has alleged there was widespread fraud.
Since the election, just 27 Congressional Republicans have been willing to publicly admit that Biden is the victor. Two Republicans have publicly said that Trump won the election.