After a contentious month of court battles and recounts as President Donald Trump fought to overturn the results of the November election, President-elect Joe Biden officially carried the Electoral College on Monday.
While many Republicans were unwilling to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect, that dam broke after the Electoral College vote. On the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated the incoming president.
McConnell said, “Yesterday electors met in all 50 states. So, as of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect.”
He continued, “Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result. But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January the 20th. The electoral college has spoken.”
The Kentucky Republican added, “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 congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, saying, “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.”
Watch the video below:
.@senatemajldr: "So, as of this this morning, our country has officially a President-elect and a Vice President-elect… The Electoral College has spoken. So, today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden." pic.twitter.com/4S7Xv7otsH
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 15, 2020
McConnell was among a number of Republicans who refused to publicly refer to Biden as the president-elect following the November election.
When asked at a press conference in early December if he would acknowledge Biden as the president-elect, McConnell said, “This has become a weekly ritual.”
He added, “The Electoral College is going to meet on the fourteenth and cast a vote. We’re going to have a swearing-in of the next president on the twentieth of January. Why don’t we concentrate on what we have to do the next two weeks?”
But McConnell’s acknowledgment was not shared by the White House — Trump has not conceded the election and on Tuesday morning was accusing the election of being rigged, tweeting, “Many Trump votes were routed to Biden.”
