Almost two weeks after the Nov. 3 general election, President Donald Trump is insisting that he is the victor. However, some members of his party are beginning to admit that President-elect Joe Biden (D) came out on top.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is one of the few Republican officials who have been willing to publicly say that the former vice president won — a decision that did not go over well with Trump.
On Monday morning, the president appeared to call for DeWine to face a primary challenge in 2022 as he wrote, “Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!”
Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2020
DeWine told CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday, “I think that we need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect. Joe Biden is the president-elect.”
“And we need to move this country forward. I think the most important thing is that we come together as a country,” he added.
Trump has steadfastly refused to concede the election. In a tweet on Sunday morning, he appeared to admit that Biden won the election, but he shortly sent out another tweet to make clear that was not the case.
He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020
And on Monday morning, he claimed, “I won the election!” Twitter flagged that tweet with a label reading, “Official sources called this election differently.”
On Nov. 7, major news outlets called the race for Biden after it was projected that he would win enough states to secure the necessary 270 electoral votes.
While Trump has filed a series of legal challenges in several states, experts say it is unlikely those lawsuits will change enough votes to change the outcome of the election.
As the president continues to try to sow doubt about the election, Republicans are facing growing calls to rebuff his claims publicly and declare Biden the victor.