Republicans are preparing to accept the election results and recognize Joe Biden (D) as president-elect, according to former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
ABC’s Martha Raddatz noted very few Republican leaders have come to terms with a Biden administration.
“I think they’re getting ready to do it. I said I think this is a character test for the Republican party. I don’t buy the argument that Donald Trump has hypnotized Republican voters or that they’re not capable of accepting the truth,” Bolton said.
He added, “This is a myth that’s being perpetrated that’s simply not true, but it requires people to explain what happened. The Trump campaign simply has no evidence. Their basic argument is this was a conspiracy so vast and so successful that there is no evidence of it.”
Watch his comments below:
Pressed on how few in the Republican party are coming forward and recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect, John Bolton tells @MarthaRaddatz he thinks "they're getting ready to do it."
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 15, 2020
"I think this is a character test for the Republican party." https://t.co/n7MOSxWdol pic.twitter.com/U9jcQFBjMx
During an interview with NPR on Friday, Bolton urged Republicans to “acknowledge the reality that Biden is the president-elect,” as IJR previously reported.
He continued, “They may not like it, but the country deserves to give him the preparation he needs. A gracious president who kept the country’s interest first would acknowledge that.”
Bolton explained to Republicans “showing disagreement with the president is not fatal to your political future.”
During his first public appearance following the election, the president refused to accept a Biden presidency, as IJR previously reported.
“This administration will not be going to a lockdown, hopefully the…whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be. I guess time will tell,” Trump said while delivering remarks Friday from the Rose Garden.
White House officials have suggested Trump will be serving another four years as president.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during her appearance on Fox News Friday, “I think the president will attend his own inauguration.”
White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro claimed the administration is “under the assumption that there will be a second Trump term.”