Clyburn: Republican Party ‘has a responsibility’ to ‘preserve the integrity of this democracy’

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Sunday that the Republican Party “has a responsibility” to “preserve the integrity of this democracy.”

Clyburn told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he thinks President Trump “should concede” to President-elect Joe Biden but said the GOP should “step up.”

{mosads}“I think Trump should concede but I also think that the Republican Party has a responsibility here,” he said. “This country is bigger than any one person.”

The majority whip continued by quoting Biden, who said in his first speech after his projected win on Saturday that the U.S. “stands at an inflection point.”

“We are in a very dire set of consequences here, and we better get ahold of ourselves and this country,” Clyburn said during his interview. 

“So it doesn’t matter to me whether or not he concedes,” he said of Trump who has not acknowledged defeat.

“What matters to me is whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy,” Clyburn said. 

House Majority Whip James Clyburn: “I think Trump should concede but I also think that the Republican Party has a responsibility here … What matters to me is whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/qrF98cYSSu

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) November 8, 2020

Clyburn’s call to the Republican Party comes a day after Biden was projected to win the 2020 presidential election. Since Biden’s victory was announced, Trump has refused to concede to the former vice president.

In the days after Election Day, Trump fueled unfounded claims that voter fraud contributed to Biden’s lead and eventual win.

For months ahead of the election, the president spread false claims that mail-in ballots used due to the coronavirus pandemic opened up the election to fraud.

Some Republicans have congratulated Biden on his win, but others are encouraging Trump to continue using legal avenues in the form of several lawsuits by the campaign that challenge the votes in battleground states Trump lost.