The top Senate Republican issued no statement congratulating President-elect Biden, while a leading House Republican echoed President Trump’s protestations that the election was not, in fact, over.
WASHINGTON — As President Trump refused to concede defeat on Saturday, top Republican congressional leaders followed suit, refraining from releasing the customary statements congratulating the victor that have been standard among senior lawmakers in both parties when a presidential election has been declared.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader and Republican of Kentucky, declined on Saturday to acknowledge Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory, with an aide instead pointing reporters to a generic “count all the votes” statement Mr. McConnell released on Friday before the results were known.
In that statement, released on Twitter as Mr. Trump preemptively contested the outcome of the election, Mr. McConnell had outlined “how this must work in our great country.” “Every legal vote should be counted,” he said. “Any illegally-submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes.” Continue reading.