President-elect Joe Biden told the nation President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his victory was an ’embarrassment’ Tuesday – but took a casual approach to being blocked from an ordinary transition.
He told reporters in Wilmington he has not yet spoken to the president, who tweeted Tuesday that he ‘will win’ and claimed the election was filled with ‘abuse,’ nor has he connected with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
‘Mr. President I look forward to speaking with you,’ Biden said, asked his message for Trump.
‘I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly. I think it will not help the president’s legacy,’ Biden predicted.
He spoke – with Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect at his side, on a day when:
But in Delaware, a relaxed president-elect Biden offer no suggestion of being concerned.
Not a single Trump administration official has acknowledged the win that networks declared, but Biden took a low-key approach.
He grinned and joked when asked about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying there will be a transition to a second Trump term.
‘So far there is no evidence of any of the assertions made by the president or secretary of state Pompeo,’ he said.
‘The fact that they’re not willing to acknowledge we won at this point is not of much consequence in our planning,’ he said.
Even with party stalwarts raising alarms about the transition period – and taking an alarming posture as Trump puts forward claims of fraud without evidence and conducts a purge of agency officials – Biden took a sunny posture. Just four Senate Republicans out of 53 have congratulated him on his win.
‘Look I am not pessimist. And I think there are enough Republicans who have already spoken out. I think there will be many more – not many more, there will be a larger number once the election is declared and I’m sworn in,’ he said.
His speech, which was about health care although he included no new policy proposals, was the latest event meant to show him as the legitimate winner of the election and preparing to lead.
He was preceded by running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, whom he twice called vice president-elect.
Surprisingly, a day after his team suggested they may sue to try to get the formal transition moving, Biden downplayed the conflict. A formal assessment unlocks millions in funding under the Presidential Transition Act, with planning occurring for many months.
‘We can get through without the funding. We’re in a position that we feel very good about . There’s nothing that slows up our efforts to put things together,’ he said.
Biden said he would continue with foreign leader calls, having done six, and working on his cabinet selections.
‘We don’t see anything that’s slowing us down, quite frankly,’ he said.
He said he expected to talk to McConnell, whom he has known for at least 35 years and served with in the Senate, in the ‘not too distant future.’ McConnell said Trump is ‘100 per cent’ within his rights to pursue legal remedies, in effect providing baking for Trump’s push to overturn the initial election results through the courts.
With the bulk of elected Republicans not acknowledging his win, Biden point to a ‘few notable exceptions.’
He said most were probably ‘mildly intimidated by the sitting president.’
‘But there’s only one president at a time. He’s the president,’ Biden said. His campaign put out readouts on calls to the heads of Germany, Great Britain, and France.
‘I’m letting them know that America is back,’ Biden said. ‘I have a number of other calls to return,’ he added.
Harris also vouched not only for Biden’s health ideas -she took a different posture during the primaries – but for his electoral victory.
‘Joe Biden won the election decisively with more votes than have ever been cast in American history,’ she said.
She delivered some of the most stinging remarks on heath care, blasting the GOP suit to take down Obamacare.
She said she was ‘calling on the Supreme Court to see this case for what it is, a blatant attempt to overturn the will of the people.’
She pointed the unelected judges to the will of the voters. ‘We just had an election in America. An election where health care was very much on the ballot,’ she said.
She said ‘each and every vote’ she and Biden got was ‘to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act.’
The very clear message was that the Biden team have little interest in Trump’s refusal to concede and are now powering ahead to take government – while Trump’s own administration is roiled by firings and with no sign of active governance at the White House.
Trump and his campaign have yet to present no substantial evidence of abuse and as of 3pm Tuesday, had filed no new cases today.
They have already filed cases in Pennsylvania and Michigan which claim poll watchers could not get close enough to see counting fully, after initially complaining they were not allowed in at all then admitting they were.
But neither allege abuse on a scale which would lead to overturning the almost 50,000 lead Joe Biden has in Pennsylvania and the 150,000 he has in Michigan. Ballot counting abuse has not been alleged in court anywhere else.
Trump’s upper-case tweets came as the Department of Justice was roiled by Attorney General Bill Barr giving federal prosecutors the go-ahead to investigate ‘specific allegations’ of voter fraud – causing the top career official in charge of election fraud to resign.
Trump has claimed widespread voter fraud – without presenting any evidence – as the reason why he was beaten by Biden in a group of key swing states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada. Both Arizona and Georgia also look like they’ll tilt Biden once full results are in.
Barr’s authorization led to the resignation of the DOJ official who oversees investigations into voter fraud, Richard Pilger.
Pilger, director of the Election Crimes Branch of the Department of Justice since 2010, stepped down within hours of Barr’s announcement, in an email he sent to colleagues that was obtained by The New York Times.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, was quick to criticize Pilger, calling him a member of the so-called ‘deep state.’
‘Wait. Seriously? Isn’t this the guy who was involved with the IRS and Lois Lerner in targeting conservatives and the Tea Party? Maybe that’s why he hasn’t done s**t at DOJ. #deepstate’.
DailyMail
