Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), a co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said Tuesday that Joe Biden should be recognized as the president-elect while many top Republicans in Congress are still siding with President Trump in refusing to concede the election.
Most Republicans in Congress are backing Trump’s efforts to challenge his loss to Biden, despite the lack of evidence of voter fraud.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have so far declined to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect and defended the Trump campaign’s legal efforts claiming voting irregularities in states where he is trailing in the vote count.
Reed issued a statement congratulating Biden within hours of his projected victory on Saturday, and on Tuesday said that Republicans should recognize the outcome if there isn’t evidence to back up the Trump campaign’s claims.
“Joe Biden has rightfully earned the title of being the projected president-elect and that should be recognized,” Reed said on a call with reporters.
Reed said that Republicans and Trump should be prepared to move on with the transition of power if there isn’t evidence of voter fraud that would change the election results.
“If the evidence is not there, then I think it’s incumbent upon us as a Republican Party and the president himself to recognize that what we pride ourselves [on] in America is a peaceful transition of power,” Reed said.
“And I’m confident the president will do that and recognize that if the lawsuit is not substantiated by the courts in regards to the claims, that we will do what we do best in America and lead the world with our democratic process rather than having some sort of dysfunction in regards to what has been a rich 200-year-plus history of transition of power,” he continued.
A handful of other GOP lawmakers have also publicly acknowledged Biden as the president-elect, including Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Ben Sasse (Neb.), as well as Reps. Francis Rooney (Fla.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Paul Mitchell (Mich.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Don Young (Alaska) and Will Hurd (Texas).
McConnell on Monday said that Trump has “every right to look into allegations and request recounts under the law,” though he stopped short of saying there had been voter fraud in the election.
“President Trump is 100 percent within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options,” McConnell said.
McCarthy, meanwhile, maintained that there should be time for recounts or legal challenges before declaring a winner in the presidential race.
“What we need in the presidential race is to make sure every legal vote is counted, every recount is complete, and every legal challenge should be heard. Then and only then, will America decide who won the race,” McCarthy told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business over the weekend.
Both the House and Senate passed symbolic resolutions in September affirming commitment to the peaceful transfer of power. The Senate passed its version unanimously, while five House Republicans voted against the lower chamber’s version.
The Trump administration has delayed the formal transition process given that the president has still not conceded to Biden.
Biden shrugged off Trump’s reluctance to acknowledge the election outcome during an appearance on Tuesday.
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Biden said. “At the end of the day, you know, it’s all going to come to fruition on Jan. 20.”