Mitch McConnell pronounced Tuesday the ‘Electoral College has spoken’ as he, for the first time, referred to Joe Biden as the president-elect following the Electoral College cementing his victory.
‘Yesterday electors met in all 50 states,’ McConnell said from the Senate floor on Tuesday. ‘So as of this morning our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect.’
‘Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result,’ he continued. ‘But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20.
He added: ‘The Electoral College has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.’
He joined a handful of other Republican senators who finally acknowledged Biden won the election over President Donald Trump on Monday following the electors casting their votes.
‘I understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election,’ the second ranking Senate Republican John Thune of South Dakota said 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,’ the Senate Majority Whip continued.
Electors officially cast their votes for their respective states for president on Monday, cementing Biden’s victory with 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232.
Biden said, according to Bloomberg, that seven ‘mostly senior’ GOP lawmakers called him on Monday night.
In one call with ‘one of the most senior members’ in the Senate, Biden said they expressed ‘there’s a lot we can work on,’ including China, the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and infrastructure.
Not all Republican lawmakers, especially those staunch Trump allies, are as receptive to the new development, claiming there is still a ‘narrow path’ for a victory.
‘Let’s see where the remaining legal challenges go,’ Senator Lindsey Graham said, admitting: ‘But it’s a very narrow path.’
Graham, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said he is prepared to work with Biden where he can and support some of his nominees – including Lloyd Austin for Defense Secretary, Tony Blinken for Secretary of State and Janet Yellen to head the Treasury Department.
Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma quipped ‘no’ when asked if Biden is the president-elect.
source: dailymail.com
