President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday said President Trump has yet to personally reach out to him since his election victory.
“His chief of staff and my chief of staff have spoken,” Biden told NBC’s Lester Holt in an interview that aired Wednesday on the “Today” show.
“But no, I have not heard anything from President Trump,” Biden added in his first interview as president-elect.
Biden said despite the lack of direct contact with Trump, his transition team has seen immediate results since General Services Administration head Emily Murphy authorized the beginning of the transition earlier this week.
“Immediately, we’ve gotten outreach from the National Security shop, to just across the board,” Biden said. “So, I think we’re going to not be so far behind the curve, as we thought we might be in the past. And I must say, the outreach has been sincere. There’s not been begrudging so far. And I don’t expect it to be.”
Despite authorizing the transition this week, Trump has refused to concede to Biden and has continued to make baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
Biden also told Holt he had always been “confident we were going to win this election” despite efforts by Trump’s team to overturn the results in key states.
“People are really, really, really, really worried and concerned. And they want something done. Both sides,” Biden said. “And, after 30 lawsuits were thrown out in rapid succession, I was convinced it was just a matter of time. And that’s why I decided to just to move on as if I were the nominee and do the business I would do within my power from the day the election occurred.”
Holt noted that Trump repeatedly suggested he would not accept an election loss before the election and asked the president if his team had prepared for the possibility.
“I didn’t expect it to go smoothly. But I was confident, and I really mean this, that the American people are gonna show up,” Biden replied. “The American people were not going to be silenced. I am not surprised by the response of the president himself.”