Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging his Republican colleagues and President Donald Trump to follow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) example and acknowledge the results of the presidential election now that the Electoral College has voted.
“As the Republican leader rightly acknowledged a few moments ago, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States, and our colleague Kamala Harris will be the next vice president of the United States,” Schumer said during a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
He continued, “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.”
“Enough is enough. Our Republican colleagues — for the sake of the democracy, for the sake of the peaceful transition of power — should stop the shenanigans, stop the misrepresentations, and acknowledge that Joe Biden will be our next president.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: "Enough is enough. Our Republican colleagues—for the sake of the democracy, for the sake of the peaceful transition of power—should stop the shenanigans, stop the misrepresentations, and acknowledge that Joe Biden will be our next president." pic.twitter.com/5dcmLNhicZ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 15, 2020
The Electoral College made President-elect Joe Biden’s victory official after electors in all 50 states gathered on Monday to vote.
Since the Nov. 3 election, Trump has refused to concede and has continued to make unsubstantiated allegations that the election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.
As the president mounted legal challenges seeking to overturn the results of the election, the majority of Republican lawmakers in Congress refused to publicly say that Biden won the election.
A report by The Washington Post published on Dec. 5 found that just 27 Congressional Republicans were willing to publicly say that Biden won, while two said that Trump did.
The party leadership’s decision to remain largely silent amid Trump’s post-election actions led retiring Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) to announce that he would leave the party, as IJR reported.
After the Electoral College, more Republican senators were willing to call Biden the president-elect. Some, such as Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), released statements to declare that Biden is the winner of the election.
However, others such as Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) were not yet ready to acknowledge Biden’s win. When asked if he is willing to call Biden the president-elect, Inhofe said, “Not yet.”
McConnell said in a floor speech on Tuesday, “Yesterday electors met in all 50 states. So, as of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect.”
“Today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years,” he added.