. Among the lawmakers who recognize the true winner, many are retiring from Congress at the end of 2020 or represent House districts that Biden won convincingly.
I fucking knew it. Most are already leaving office or are trying to protect their positions. No back bone.
Edit: Make things simpler, copied from article:
Joe Biden 27 These Republicans say that Biden won or have called Biden the president-elect.
Sen. Lamar Alexander R-TN Outgoing Alexander’s office replied to the poll with a statement Nov. 23, in which he said: “The presidential election is rapidly coming to a formal end. Recounts are being completed. Courts are resolving disputes. Most states will certify their votes by December 8. Since it seems apparent that Joe Biden will be the president-elect, my hope is that President Trump will take pride in his considerable accomplishments, put the country first and have a prompt and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed. When you are in public life, people remember the last thing you do.” On Nov. 20, the Associated Press reported that Alexander has no objection to Trump’s recount requests, because recounting reinforces the validity of election results. But he did criticize an effort by Trump to try to subvert the results, saying, “The wrong way to do it is to meddle with state legislators and try to persuade them to send a slate of electors that’s different than the slate of electors voted on by the people of that state.” Read more »
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito R-WV Sen. Bill Cassidy R-LA “Sen. Cassidy believes the president has a right to pursue any legal challenges the president’s team believes has merit,” spokesman Cole Avery told The Post on Dec. 3. “But as things stand now, Sen. Cassidy believes Biden won.” In a Nov. 23 post on Twitter, Cassidy wrote: “President Trump’s legal team has not presented evidence of the massive fraud which would have had to be present to overturn the election. I voted for President Trump but Joe Biden won.” Read more »
Sen. Susan Collins R-ME Collins was the first Republican senator to acknowledge Biden’s victory. She has also highlighted Attorney General William P. Barr’s public statement that federal investigators had not found any credible evidence of fraud that could have reversed the election result. “I think that the attorney general’s statement was helpful in reassuring people of the validity of the election results,” Collins said on Dec. 2. A spokeswoman for Collins declined to provide responses to this survey but pointed to the previous public comments in a statement to The Post. Collins has not publicly expressed an opinion on Trump’s claims that he won the election. Read more »
Sen. Deb Fischer R-NE Fischer's office did not respond to The Post's request. In a Dec. 4 letter to a constituent shared with The Post, Fischer said "I look forward to working with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to keep our nation safe, update our infrastructure, and provide opportunities to families." Fischer recently said she was not impressed by Trump’s conspiracy theories. “He can say whatever he wants. ... If I was bothered by everything that everyone around here says, I couldn’t come back.” Read more »
Sen. Jerry Moran R-KS “Every indication that I know of is that Joe Biden is the president-elect,” Moran said on Nov. 24. He has also called on the country to acknowledge Biden’s legitimacy. “We cannot afford to spend the next four years divided over who won the election or denying the legitimacy of the president as was the case for President Trump throughout his presidency,” he said. “Sen. Moran stated that President Trump has the right to request recounts and utilize the courts to determine the integrity of the election,” a spokesman told The Post. Read more »
Sen. Lisa Murkowski R-AK Murkowski’s office did not respond to The Post's request. But she has publicly urged Trump to concede and was among the first Senate Republicans to congratulate Biden after his victory speech last month. Read more »
Sen. James E. Risch R-ID Risch did not respond to questions from The Post, but in an interview with a newspaper based in Washington state last month, he referred to Biden as the president-elect. Read more »
Sen. Mitt Romney R-UT Romney's office did not respond to The Post’s request. Trump’s unfounded election fraud claim “strikes at the very foundation of democracy here and around the world,” Romney said Dec. 3. “Russia and China have to be just laughing — smiling from ear to ear.” Read more »
Sen. Marco Rubio R-FL Rubio’s office declined to answer questions. In an opinion piece for USA Today, Rubio referred to Biden as president-elect. Read more »
Sen. Ben Sasse R-NE Sasse's office didn’t respond to The Post's request.
Sen. Patrick J. Toomey R-PA “Make no mistake about it, I am deeply disappointed that President Trump and Vice President Pence were not re-elected,” Toomey said in a statement Nov. 21. “I endorsed the president and voted for him. During his four years in office, his administration achieved much for the American people.” Read more »
Rep. Don Bacon R-NE Bacon has made several statements acknowledging Biden as the next president, though his office did not respond to The Post’s multiple requests for comment. In a Nov. 8 statement to Forbes, Bacon said, “The handwriting is on the wall that Joe Biden has been elected as the next President.” He added, “President Trump has the right to challenge the results in court if evidence of illegalities are found, to ask for recounts in those states where the margin is very narrow.” He had acknowledged in a Nov. 7 interview with KETV that Biden’s margin in the key battleground states was likely too much for Trump to overcome and said, “In the end ... we need to respect the will of the voters.” Read more »
Rep. John Curtis R-UT Curtis said in a statement that Biden should be acknowledged as the president-elect until a judicial decision determines wrongdoing. “Given the opportunity to address Joe Biden, I would tell him that I will take him at his word that he will be a unifier and a president to all, including those of us that did not vote for him — I stand ready to help.” Read more »
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick R-PA Fitzpatrick's office did not respond to The Post's request. On Nov. 11 he said, “We have a president-elect and we have pending litigation. Let it run its way through the courts and we’ll get a resolution in an open and transparent manner.” Read more »
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez R-OH "I support the presidents right to appeal through the legal process. I do not support any unfounded claims by anyone about widespread voter fraud without sufficient proof," said in a response to The Post's survey. Rep. Will Hurd R-TX Outgoing Hurd's office did not respond to The Post’s request. Hurd was one of two Republicans who congratulated Biden on Nov. 7 after his victory became apparent, tweeting: “It’s time to come together. America has spoken and we must respect the decision. More unites us than divides us; we can find common ground. I hope the president-elect can embody this. I wish him good luck and I wish the president a successful final few weeks. God bless the USA!” Read more »
Rep. Adam Kinzinger R-IL Kinzinger did not respond to The Post’s questions but was among the first Republicans to congratulate Biden and Harris on their victory. He has also been outspoken about defending the integrity of the results. “Saying an election is stolen doesn’t make it so. Lies and conspiracies won’t work,” he tweeted on Nov. 28. After Trump tweeted his Dec. 2 video statement, Kinzinger posted, “Time to delete your account.” Read more »
Rep. Paul Mitchell R-MI Outgoing While Mitchell’s office did not return The Post’s inquiries, the congressman has been vocal in acknowledging that Biden won the 2020 race and has publicly pleaded with Republicans to stop trying to reverse the election results. Mitchell wrote in a Detroit News op-ed Nov. 19 that Biden won enough states “to clearly prevail in the Electoral College.” He also tweeted that Republicans need to “stop undermining the election and putting forth misleading information” and tagged Trump when responding to another baseless claim of voter fraud: “Oh my God... Please for the sake of our Nation please drop these arguments without evidence or factual basis. #stopthestupid.” Notably, Mitchell did not run for reelection and is retiring from Congress. Read more »
Rep. Tom Reed R-NY Reed has referred to Biden as the president-elect since Nov. 7. Read more »
Rep. Denver Riggleman R-VA Outgoing Rep. Francis Rooney R-FL Outgoing Rep. John Shimkus R-IL Outgoing Shimkus congratulated Biden in a Nov. 7 statement and referred to him as the president-elect. “While never perfect, American elections have consistently been free and fair,” he said. “This year’s election is no different.” Read more »
Rep. Steve Stivers R-OH In a Nov. 25 statement, Stivers wrote: “With yesterday’s certification of many states’ results, it’s evident that President Trump has exhausted the due process offered to all candidates. I offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris.” Read more »
Rep. Fred Upton R-MI Upton was the first House Republican to acknowledge Biden as president-elect after the Associated Press called the race, saying in a statement that “the votes have been counted, the American people have spoken, and they chose Joe Biden to serve as our next President. We have to find a way to come together, bridge divisions, and focus on solutions that help the millions who are struggling. I am raising my hand and committing to working with President-elect Biden and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in Congress to do exactly that.” Although the congressman’s office did not respond directly to the second question, Upton told CNN on Nov. 22 that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Michigan, which had a 154,000-vote margin in favor of Biden. “You’ve got to let those votes stand,” he said. Read more »
Rep. Greg Walden R-OR Outgoing “My view of it is this is all going to work itself out in about the first week of December. The clock runs out, there’s a system in place, he obviously has a legal strategy he thinks could be effective — I’m not convinced it has been or will be, but he has the right to pursue that,” Walden said on a National Journal podcast on Dec. 1. “I think in the end we’ll have a transition here, and you’ll have a new president come January 20. I don’t see the math where this gets overturned and so far I’ve not seen the evidence of the amount of fraud it would take, or mistakes — and those occur in every election — to overturn the results in any state. So I think the dye is pretty well cast.” Walden went on to say: “I think the bigger issue is where the Biden administration will go. How far left it will go.” Read more »
Rep. Don Young R-AK
. Among the lawmakers who recognize the true winner, many are retiring from Congress at the end of 2020 or represent House districts that Biden won convincingly.
I fucking knew it. Most are already leaving office or are trying to protect their positions. No back bone.