GOP senator says Trump in effect conceded with GSA move

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) suggested Sunday that despite continuing to spread baseless theories of voter fraud, President Trump had effectively conceded by authorizing the start of the presidential transition.

“The president in effect has conceded when he ordered the General Services Administration to begin the transition,” Cassidy said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding “that preparation is taking place.”

GSA administrator Emily Murphy initially stonewalled signing off on the beginning of the transition, restricting the Biden team’s access to transition funds and materials. However, in late November, Trump authorized Murphy to begin the transition.

Trump has yet to concede despite the authorization and has continued to argue both the unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and a embar on a series of longshot legal challenges to the results in individual states. Although Cassidy has acknowledged Biden as president-elect, he told Fox News’ Chris Wallace the president’s legal challenges should be allowed to play out.

“If there’s fraud it should be uncovered but it should be uncovered in a way that a judge agrees,” he said, saying  “if the president’s able to show that, that’s important” but saying it was equally important if he was unable to substantiate his claims.

“It’s incumbent upon the president and his legal team to establish that,” he added.

Wallace questioned Cassidy on whether the president’s refusal to concede was setting up a scenario where even if Biden is inaugurated, millions of Americans will not accept his legitimacy as president.

“You’re giving me a hypothetical and I can’t tell you what millions of people are going to do,” Cassidy responded. “All I can say is we are one nation … I’m hopeful that we would move on.”

Trump has continued his refusal to accept the results of the election, claiming he won states he lost as recently as last night in a Georgia rally for Sens. David Perdue (R) and Kelly Loeffler (R).