“The Electoral College made the decision”
On December 15, local time, McConnell delivered a speech in the Senate. He first praised the achievements of the Trump administration during his tenure.
Subsequently, McConnell made a clear statement on the results of the election. “Many of us had hoped that the presidential election would produce different results, but our government system has due process in deciding who will be sworn in on January 20. The Electoral College has already made the decision.
Our country finally has a formality. President-elect and Vice President-elect. I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. President-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He has been in public service for many years.”
McConnell also congratulated Harris in his speech, “For the first time in our country, a woman was elected as a vice president, which makes all Americans proud.”
Later, McConnell talked with Biden on the phone, which was the first time the two had called since the election. Biden said that he thanked McConnell for his congratulations on the phone, “I told him that although we disagree on many things, we can still cooperate on some things.” Biden added, “This is a good conversation.”
December 15, local time, Harris said in an interview with the ABC, “I appreciate McConnell’s approach. It would be nice if it could be earlier. However, most importantly, he still did it. We will abandon our previous misconceptions and go hand in hand.”
So far, Trump has not made a clear response to the Electoral College’s confirmation of Biden’s victory, and he has not commented on McConnell’s remarks. Trump continued to post tweets claiming fraud in the election, and he eventually won the election. However, these tweets were subsequently marked as controversial.
White House Press Secretary Kelly McNerney said that the Electoral College vote is only one step in the constitutional process, and Trump is still paying attention to election-related lawsuits.
McConnell wants to avoid disputes within the party
According to the “Washington Post” report, a person familiar with the matter disclosed that McConnell made an explanation to the White House before congratulating Biden on his victory.
Although McConnell never echoed the Trump campaign’s allegations of election fraud, nor did he endorse Trump’s claim that Trump won the election by a large margin, he did not make any comments to question it.
McConnell’s aides said that in the end, McConnell will respect the election results. Earlier, McConnell did not state that he did not want to conflict with Trump at the end of the year, otherwise it would affect the Republicans to win two Senate seats in Georgia.
The New York Times pointed out that as the “most powerful” Republican in Congress, McConnell’s move is to stop Republicans from spreading skepticism about the election and avoid chaotic internal party disputes. This chaos will cause the Republicans in the new Congress to diverge, and even cause opposition between Trump supporters and institutionalists.
According to the “Washington Post” report, McConnell’s statement is of great significance. CNN analysis believes that McConnell’s actions actually provide a step for Republican officials who have never expressed their views behind him, allowing them to choose whether to echo Trump’s remarks about “election fraud”, or to admit that although they want Tron Pu won and put a lot of effort into it, but that’s it.
Republican Senator John Thun said, “In the end, at some point, you have to face reality.” Republican Senator John Corning believes that the Electoral College vote is “a critical moment.” When Conin was asked whether Trump should give in or congratulate Biden, Conin said that he would not provide any advice to the president, but “I think he will do the right thing.”
Some Republicans tried to question the election result
According to the New York Times, three people familiar with the matter said that a group of members of the House of Representatives led by Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks plans to use the constitutional process to certify the results of the vote on the 5 “key The voting result of the “swing state” was questioned.
Although from past experience, they are basically unable to challenge the election results. The New York Times pointed out that if they can persuade at least one senator to join, they may turn the vote-counting process in Congress into chaos.
Brooks said in an interview with the “Capitol Hill”, “I will do this because, in my opinion, this is the most serious election fraud in American history.” Brooks believes that there are broader and more serious systemic flaws in the U.S. electoral system, and Congress should investigate electoral fraud.
“Washington Post” reported that in recent weeks, Brooks privately spoke of a number of Republican senators. However, many Republican senators regard their efforts as “disgusting” and are reluctant to join in questioning the election results.
afternoon of December 15th, local time, McConnell urged Senate Republicans not to join this “little hope” operation on a conference call. McConnell said that for the Senate, this challenge would be “futility” and “embarrassing.”
Senator Barasso, the No. 3 figure in the Republican leadership, said that he has not heard of any Republican senators willing to join the group to question the results of the election.
