Call it political protection or petulance, but the vast majority of GOP lawmakers in Congress are refusing to refer to President-elect Joe Biden as “president-elect.”
A Washington Post survey revealed that 90% of the 222 respondents would not identify a winner.
Biden, with nearly 7 million more votes than President Trump, has an Electoral College advantage of 306 to 232 – the same margin as Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The survey asked: “Who won the presidential contest?” “Do you support or oppose Trump’s continuing efforts to claim victory?” and “Will you accept Biden as the legitimately elected president if he wins the Electoral College majority?”
Eight Republicans said they support Trump’s claim of victory.
Responses included 11 of 52 Senate Republicans acknowledging Biden’s win, though six of the 14 House Republicans in that group will retire this month.
The survey was taken on Thursday, a day after Trump posted a 46-minute video claiming he’d won the election.
Some networks didn’t even show their audiences the speech because of its baseless attacks, and it’s clear that the GOP is not “all-in” with Trump’s claims.
Attorney General William P. Barr apparently angered Trump on Tuesday when he said he had seen no proof of any election-changing fraud.
Several instances show GOP leaders acknowledging, at least, that Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, talking Tuesday about a coronavirus relief package, said, “… there’s likely to be a discussion about some additional package of some size next year, depending on what the new administration wants to pursue [emphasis added].”
After all is said and done, Trump’s influence figures to remain prominent, with the possibility of another presidential run in 2024.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson was perhaps the most honest, telling an anti-Trump–leaning website, in a conversation Johnson apparently believed was private, that acknowledging a Biden victory now would be “political suicide.”
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