US elections: in a first, the main Republicans call Joe Biden president-elect

For the first time, a wave of prominent Republicans said today that Democrat Joe Biden is the winner of the US presidential election after the Electoral College certified the vote.

With the states affirming the results, Republicans faced a fundamental choice: declare Biden president-elect, as the count showed, or remain silent while President Donald Trump runs a potentially damaging campaign to annul the election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was mum on the issue today. But several senators said the time had come.

“At some point you have to face the music,” said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranked Republican leader. “Once the Electoral College solves the problem today, it is time for everyone to move on.”

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, chair of the inaugural committee, said the panel will now “deal with Vice President Biden as president-elect.”

Just last week, Republicans on the investiture committee refused to do so publicly. He said today’s Electoral College vote “was significant.”

Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said that barring more legal challenges, it appears that Biden will be president.

“That’s the nature of this election. You have to have a winner. You have to have a loser,” Cornyn said, adding that once Trump’s legal arguments are exhausted, “Joe Biden is on his way to being president of the U.S”. . “

The change comes almost six weeks after Election Day. Many Republicans have spent time in silence, allowing Trump to undertake an unprecedented challenge to the nation’s treasured voting system.

Some Republican lawmakers have vowed to take the fight until January 6 when Congress votes to accept or reject the Electoral College results. Others have said that Trump’s legal battles should continue toward a resolution on inauguration day, Jan.20.

“It’s a very, very narrow road for the president,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a senior Trump ally. “But having said that, I think we will let those legal challenges play out.”

Historians and election officials have warned that Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud threaten to erode Americans’ faith in the electoral system, and that lawmakers have a responsibility under oath of office to uphold the Constitution.

“The campaign to overturn the result is a dangerous thing,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public policy at Princeton.

“This is a Republican operation, not a presidential operation,” Zelizer said. “Without his silence, he could not do what he is doing.”

Trump is trying to dump the ballots of thousands of Americans, particularly those who voted by mail, in dozens of lawsuits that have mostly failed.

His legal team is reporting wrongdoing, despite the fact that Attorney General William Barr, who abruptly resigned today, has said there is no evidence of widespread fraud altering the election results. State election officials, including Republicans, have said the election was fair and valid.

In a decisive blow to Trump’s legal efforts, the Supreme Court last week refused to take up two of his cases challenging the electoral process in key states.

Former Republican Senate Leader Trent Lott said today that there is little reason for Trump to continue the fight.

“I don’t see that the president has many avenues left,” Lott said. “Once the Electoral College has voted, the majority of the people will recognize Joe Biden as president-elect.”

Former House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, has also said that it is clear that Biden is the winner, stating in a forum last month that “the election is over, in the minds of everyone except Donald Trump. “.

Before today, only a handful of current Republican elected officials in Congress had recognized Biden as president-elect. Even fewer have come forward to congratulate him.

Among Republican senators, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski have been the most outspoken in declaring Biden the winner.

Others said they were waiting for the Electoral College vote, which is normally a routine step in the electoral process, but has been amplified by Trump’s refusal to concede.

“Although I supported President Trump, today’s Electoral College vote makes it clear that Joe Biden is now president-elect,” Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman said in a statement.

“The presidential election is over,” said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Still, many Republicans in Congress back Trump’s legal battles. About 120 House Republicans signed Texas’s failed lawsuit last week asking the Supreme Court to take over the case in order to throw out election results in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. .

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who volunteered to argue the case before the Supreme Court, held a conference call today to urge “to participate in the fight to defend the integrity” of the elections.

A House Republican, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, vowed to challenge the Electoral College results on January 6, when Congress convenes a joint session to receive the result.

At that time, any challenge in Congress should be raised by at least one member of the House and Senate. It is unclear if any Republican senators will join to present the case.

Many Republicans are unwilling to declare Biden the winner for the same reasons that they avoided facing Trump during his presidency.

The president remains popular at home and they are reluctant to antagonize him or risk public retaliation from him on Twitter and beyond.

As Trump prepares to leave office, his supporters are the voters lawmakers need for their own re-elections.

Surpassing his calculations are Georgia’s January 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the Senate.

Incumbent Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler need Trump’s support to defend their seats against Democratic rivals Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock.