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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo participates in a media briefing at the State Department in Washington, US, on November 10, 2020. Jacquelyn Martin / Pool via REUTERS
WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday expressed confidence that once every “legal” vote is counted, it will lead to a “second Trump administration,” which appears to reject the victory of Democratic challenger Joe Biden. about President Donald Trump.
He spoke as world leaders, including Washington’s close allies Britain and France, have already congratulated President-elect Biden. Trump, a Republican, has so far refused to budge and made unsubstantiated claims that the fraud was spoiling the results.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said at a State Department news conference. He later tried to assure the world that America’s post-election transition would be successful.
“We are going to count all the votes … The world must have full confidence that the transition necessary to ensure that the State Department is … successful today and successful when the president who is in office on January 20, a minute after noon, it will also succeed. “
Biden, who will take office on January 20, 2021, risks a delayed transition as Trump has vowed to move forward with long-term legal challenges to his electoral defeat. Republican lawmakers in the United States have defended their right to do so.
When asked about Pompeo’s comments, Biden smiled. He also said that nothing would stop the transfer of power in the United States government.
When asked whether Trump’s refusal to concede hinders the State Department’s efforts to promote free and fair elections abroad, Pompeo, a close and designated ally of Trump, declined to address the specific question, but said: “ This department cares deeply about ensuring that elections around the world are safe and free and fair. “
The Republican leader in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has carefully backed Trump, saying he was “100% within his right to investigate allegations of wrongdoing,” without citing any evidence.
US Attorney General William Barr, Trump’s appointee who heads the Justice Department, told federal prosecutors on Monday to “pursue substantial allegations” of voting and counting irregularities.
Richard Boucher, a retired diplomat who was the longest-serving State Department spokesman, said Pompeo’s comment about a second Trump administration could masquerade as a joke, but also served to shield him from criticism from the House. White
Democrat Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the State Department should start preparing for Biden’s transition now. “Secretary Pompeo should not play along with unfounded and dangerous attacks on the legitimacy of last week’s elections,” he said.
On his first official trip after the November 3 elections, Pompeo will travel to France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia between November 13 and 23. Leaders of some of those countries have already congratulated Biden.
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