MCCONNELL BREAKS FROM TRUMP, SAYS BIDEN WON
Senate Republican leader privately asks senators not to object when Congress tallies votes
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made his sharpest and most significant break from President Donald Trump on Tuesday, acknowledging Joe Biden as the rightful president-elect even as Trump refused to publicly admit his loss.
In a Senate f loor speech Tuesday, McConnell rattled off accomplishments he attributed to Trump and his administration, but made it clear that he accepted the Electoral College’s certification Monday of Biden’s victory, something he and the majority of GOP lawmakers in both chambers had declined to do for weeks.
“Many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The Electoral College has spoken,” McConnell said. “So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years.”
McConnell also paid tribute to Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.: “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.”
Privately, McConnell and his top deputies took a more blunt line.
In a conference-wide phone call Tuesday afternoon, McConnell and other GOP leaders urged Senate Republicans not to join a long-shot effort led by conservatives in the House to challenge the electoral college results when Congress formally tabulates the vote Jan. 6. His remarks were confirmed by three officials familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose a private conversation.
Even if House Republicans were able to draft a senator to challenge the vote, the chances of success would be slim to nonexistent, given that states won by Biden have already certified their results. Such a push would delay the inevitable, since the measure would certainly fail in the Democratic-controlled House.
Trump did not immediately comment on McConnell’s remarks, though he continued to claim victory on Twitter. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she had no reaction from Trump on the majority leader’s comments.
“The president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election,” McEnany said. “Yesterday’s vote was one step in the constitutional process. So I will leave that to him and refer you to the campaign for more on that litigation.”
In his private remarks, McConnell referenced the vote forced by then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., after the 2004 election. Boxer was the sole senator, along several House Democrats, who objected to the counting of electoral votes in Congress in January 2005 certifying President George W. Bush’s re-election.
McConnell on Tuesday told his caucus members that doing something similar next month would be a terrible vote for Republicans because it would cast lawmakers as either for or against Trump. Like he did on the Senate f loor, McConnell stressed that the Electoral College has voted and ref lected the certified results from various states, according to the officials.
He was backed up in his pitch by Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Roy Blunt of Missouri. Part of the leadership’s argument was that this type of vote would crush GOP senators before what might be a challenging midterm cycle in 2022, the officials said.
“I think as hard as the losses are to take, at the end of the day, you have to accept what the people’s voices told you,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
Capito said there was no pushback to McConnell’s message on the conference call. And Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the thirdranking member of GOP leadership, said he has not heard of any Republican senators willing to join an effort to contest the results in Congress.
Biden was officially declared the winner Monday with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. The former vice president is set to be sworn in as the 46th president on Jan. 20.
After his remarks, McConnell spoke privately with Biden, in the first publicly known call between the two men since Biden won the White House.
“I called him to thank him for the congratulations,” Biden told reporters. “I told him that while we disagree on a lot of things, there are things we can work together on. We agreed to get together sooner than later. And I’m looking forward to working with him.”