Biden cements victory by winning Arizona, but Trump still refuses to concede
WASHINGTON - President- elect Joe Biden cemented his U.S. electoral victory by capturing the battleground state of Arizona late on Thursday, but the official transition to his administration remains stalled as President Donald Trump refuses to accept defeat.
Congress who are supporting Trump
Biden was projected to win Arizona after more than a week of vote counting from the November 3 election, Edison Research said. He becomes only the second Democratic presidential candidate in seven decades to win the traditionally Republican state.
Biden’s win in Arizona gives him 290 electoral votes in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner.
Biden had already cleared the 270 vote threshold to win the election, setting him on course to be sworn in on January 20. Arizona’s 11 additional electoral votes put any longshot challenge by Trump even further out of reach.
Biden also holds a lead of more than 14, 000 votes in the uncalled state of Georgia, nearly certain to survive a manual recount. Nationally, Biden is winning the popular vote by more than 5.3 million votes, or 3.4 percentage points.
Trump, a Republican, has claimed without evidence that he was cheated by widespread election fraud, but his legal challenges have failed in court and state election officials report no serious irregularities.
In order to stay in office for a second term, Trump would need to overturn Biden’s lead in at least three states, having failed to find evidence that could do so in any of them.
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has stalled the process of transitioning to a new administration. The federal agency that releases funding to an incoming president- elect, the General Services Administration, has not yet recognised Biden’s victory.
Biden’s pick for White
House chief of staff, Ron Klain, told MSNBC on Thursday that starting the transition is particularly crucial now, as the Biden administration will inherit a coronavirus vaccination campaign as soon as he takes office.
Most Republicans have publicly endorsed Trump’s right to pursue court challenges and declined to recognise Biden as the winner. But more signs of dissension began emerging on Thursday.
Party figures such as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Karl Rove, a top adviser to former President George W. Bush, said Biden should be treated as the president-elect.
China yesterday congratulated Biden, who won the November 3 election nearly a week after the former vice president clinched enough states for the win.
“We respect the choice of the American people. We extend congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular daily briefing, referring to Vice- President-elect Kamala Harris.