Biden: ‘Decent Republicans’ willing to break from Trump

by Morgan Chalfant - 01/05/21 4:15 PM ET

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday said there are “really decent Republicans” willing to break with President Trump as he emphasized the need for the country to unify once he takes office.

“There are enough really decent Republicans, you’re seeing them step up now in the United States Senate, who don’t want to be part of this Trump Republican Party,” Biden told radio host Kenny Burns, specifically mentioning Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) as a GOP member who has been willing to publicly criticize Trump.

Biden said that he sees a “vague beginning” of national unity and emphasized the need for the country to come together, saying that the American public wants elected officials to work across party lines to get things accomplished.

Biden’s remark came as a growing number of Republicans have opposed efforts by some of their colleagues to object to the Electoral College results during a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Dozens of lawmakers, including more than a dozen senators, are still expected to raise objections to the votes.

Biden criticized Georgia Republicans David Perdue — whose Senate term ended Sunday — and Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who are both in high-stakes runoffs for their seats on Tuesday, accusing them of being loyal to Trump and “not to the people of Georgia.”

Loeffler announced Monday evening that she would object to the Electoral College results, citing “real concerns” with the way the election was conducted. Loeffler and Perdue are squaring off with Democrats the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively.

Trump has claimed falsely that he won the presidential election while spreading unfounded claims about widespread fraud in the election. He has criticized senators for not forcefully backing his election claims, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), while praising those who have demonstrated support for his efforts to overturn the results.

Trump, who received 74 million votes in the presidential election, is expected to be a continuing force in the Republican Party once he leaves office, putting the party in a difficult position as it charts its path going forward.

Trump has also mulled potentially running again in 2024 even as he publicly contests the most recent election results.