Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) recognizes President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the election but maintains he will still be holding a hearing on alleged voting irregularities.
During an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson was asked if he views the election as legitimate.
“Yes. I haven’t seen anything that would convince me that the results — the overall national result — would be overturned,” Johnson said.
He said there are “legitimate questions” about the way the election was conducted in some states.
“All I’m trying to do is hold a very upfront, straightforward hearing talking about what controls there are in place, what fraud does occur, what can we do to prevent fraud in the future,” Johnson added.
He explained he has no intention of objecting when Congress receives the electoral votes.
“Something would have to surface that would call into question the legitimacy of the election,” he said.
Johnson received criticism from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for his willingness to hold a hearing on the matter, as IJR previously reported.
“Chairman Johnson should call off this ridiculous charade of a Senate hearing immediately. And if he won’t, Leader McConnell should intervene to ensure that the committee does not indulge such quackery and conspiracy theories,” Schumer said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for the first time Tuesday, as IJR previously reported.
Biden told reporters he had a “good call” with McConnell shortly after he congratulated him.
“I called to thank him for the congratulations, told him although we disagree on a lot of things, there’s things we can work together on,” he said.
Biden mentioned the two “agreed we’d get together sooner than later” and he is “looking forward to working with him.”
A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany during her press briefing Tuesday if Trump recognizes Biden as the president-elect and if he plans to invite him to the White House.
“The president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election,” she 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.”
