U.S. Senate leader McConnell acknowledges Biden victory; laments Trump defeat

By Richard Cowan

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stands during a news conference with Republican leaders at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 8, 2020. Kevin Dietsch/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, on Tuesday congratulated Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their Nov. 3 election victories, ending his long silence on the outcome of the presidential race.

 

In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell acknowledged the Democrats' win of the White House following Monday's formal result issued by the Electoral College.

 

In a nearly 10-minute speech that mainly praised Republican President Donald Trump's tenure in office, McConnell closed by saying: "Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden," adding that "he has devoted himself to public service for many years."

 

McConnell, saying he had hoped for a "different result" in the Nov. 3 election, also said, "All Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time."

 

Since early November, McConnell has ignored pressure to acknowledge Biden's victory, saying Trump had the right to pursue legal challenges to the election outcome. He steadfastly refused to refer to Biden as president-elect.

 

Meanwhile, many of McConnell's fellow Republicans have echoed Trump's unfounded claims that the presidential election was stolen by domestic and foreign forces, including by tampering with electronic voting machines.

 

Over the past five weeks, some local elections officials have expressed fears that Trump's rhetoric and that of some of his supporters could result in violence.

 

On Monday, the Electoral College confirmed results that were apparent since Nov. 7 that Trump had no path to winning the election despite his repeated, unfounded claims of election fraud, which he reiterated on Monday.

 

Trump's verbal and Twitter attacks, a flurry of mostly unsuccessful lawsuits and public rallies in which he spoke of an illegal election result raised fears that U.S. democracy could suffer if enough Americans believed the president's accusations of fraud.

 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, in a speech following McConnell's, urged Trump to "end his term with a modicum of grace and dignity."

 

"For the sake of our democracy, for the sake of peaceful transition of power, he should stop the shenanigans, stop the misrepresentations and acknowledge that Joe Biden will be our next president," Schumer said.

 

While McConnell congratulated Biden and Harris, he made no mention of whether he would work in a cooperative manner with any of the new administration's initiatives following their swearing-in on Jan. 20.

 

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Franklin Paul and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-16

 

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9 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden," adding that "he has devoted himself to public service for many years."

Too bad Trump is so dumb, he could have learned from this instead of devoting himself to Donald Trump for the past 4 years! Good riddance Donald!

And how many hundreds of GOP politicians still deny reality?

Pathetic!

 

Better late than never. However, the damage has been done, this fringe party and fraudulent fundraising scheme will affect the US for decades.

McConnell accepts the inevitable.

 

That’s big.

 

 

I hope he accepts an IG being reappointed to replace the one investigating his wife that Trump fires.

so the Mitch accepted the truth good next step is to make that man the miniorty leader then retire him

Edited December 16, 20205 yr by Tug

McConnell is not beholden to Trump in any way. Trump can't sack him, or influence his re-election. I'm looking forward to what Trump tweets about McConnell's concession.

Even Trump has to accept what is undeniable by now .

He has lost the election .

And his ' face ' .

Because of his childish behavior .

Bye bye ...

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

McConnell is not beholden to Trump in any way. Trump can't sack him, or influence his re-election. I'm looking forward to what Trump tweets about McConnell's concession.

Seriously???  Do you actually believe that if Trump turned on McConnell that the citizens of Kentucky would not blindly follow a trumpian edict and kick McConnell out of office?  Preventing trump from attacking is the main reason why Republican politicians turn a blind eye towards this sham President.

2 minutes ago, Tracyb said:

Seriously???  Do you actually believe that if Trump turned on McConnell that the citizens of Kentucky would not blindly follow a trumpian edict and kick McConnell out of office?  Preventing trump from attacking is the main reason why Republican politicians turn a blind eye towards this sham President.

I'm not familiar with the Constitution of the State of Kentucky. Is it even possible for them to do so. Given McConnell's age, it's questionable whether or not he will be up for another run in 6 years.

58 minutes ago, Tracyb said:

Seriously???  Do you actually believe that if Trump turned on McConnell that the citizens of Kentucky would not blindly follow a trumpian edict and kick McConnell out of office?  Preventing trump from attacking is the main reason why Republican politicians turn a blind eye towards this sham President.

I think another reason is the GOP knows it's toast with regards to the changes happening in the US population.  More educated, less religious, more ethnically diverse, etc.  All are bad omens for the GOP.  Sad such a former great political party has succumbed to this.

 

In the end, McConnell needs to go.  He's too old and just a part of the swamp.  And in charge of the least productive senate in almost 100 years.

Mitch is part of the problem. He is a creature of the swamp, has been around far too long, is the very embodiment of why there should be ten year term limits on members of the house, and is totally compromised. The GOP has demonstrated, for all that were not aware of this prior to the election, that it is a party in decline, a party without moral backbone, and a party that has been hijacked by a loser. If anyone did not think Trump was a loser before, he has certainly demonstrated that, since the election.

 

Lock him up. 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. Senate leader McConnell acknowledges Biden victory; laments Trump defeat

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Trump doesn't do grace and dignity even as a 'modicum.'

Anger and revenge is his SOP.

McConnell also put the kibosh on any shenanigans that might rear its ugly head on 6 Jan.  He's mostly protecting his own self-interest, but Dear Leader isn't going to like that. 

 

[Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Republican senators Tuesday during a private caucus call not to object to the election results on Jan. 6, according to two sources familiar with the matter.]

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/15/mcconnell-gop-election-results-445524

Even Fox is giving up on Trump.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/15/media/fox-news-geraldo-rivera-charlie-kirk/index.html

 

Fox News' Geraldo Rivera tells Trump to stand down: 'It's over'

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And how many hundreds of GOP politicians still deny reality?

Pathetic!

 

They'll eventually come around, they're waiting for the stake through the heart so they can be sure he's gone.  But that may be another 4 years, and meanwhile all those stooges have their eyes on his voter base.  Those sucking up the closest (like Cruz) the biggest backstabbers of them all.

 

 

5 hours ago, Tracyb said:

Seriously???  Do you actually believe that if Trump turned on McConnell that the citizens of Kentucky would not blindly follow a trumpian edict and kick McConnell out of office?  Preventing trump from attacking is the main reason why Republican politicians turn a blind eye towards this sham President.

Sad but true. They're all scared sh**less of Trump.  Which makes them all spineless, including McConnell.  He was just re-elected for 6 more years so he should be showing a lot more backbone.  Absolutely shameless behavior from way too many of them, with a few exceptions.  

4 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

I think another reason is the GOP knows it's toast with regards to the changes happening in the US population.  More educated, less religious, more ethnically diverse, etc.  All are bad omens for the GOP.  Sad such a former great political party has succumbed to this.

 

In the end, McConnell needs to go.  He's too old and just a part of the swamp.  And in charge of the least productive senate in almost 100 years.

Agree.  McConnell is 78,  part of the swamp, and needs to go.  Biden is also 78, part of the swamp, and needs to go.

5 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

I think another reason is the GOP knows it's toast with regards to the changes happening in the US population.  More educated, less religious, more ethnically diverse, etc.  All are bad omens for the GOP.  Sad such a former great political party has succumbed to this.

 

In the end, McConnell needs to go.  He's too old and just a part of the swamp.  And in charge of the least productive senate in almost 100 years.

and thus we all should understand the Commonwealth of Kentuv=cky. Only the largest cities, more ethnically diverse, more educated, less fundamentalist religiously had rejected Trump and his ilk.

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

Agree.  McConnell is 78,  part of the swamp, and needs to go.  Biden is also 78, part of the swamp, and needs to go.

Rarely do I agree with you, but you are absolutely right here. I saw Biden trudging along to his latest diatribe. He looked almost lost, stumbling like a frail old man, smiling and waving at the security guy holding the door for him - "Hi, I'm Joe. What's YOUR name?" I've honestly wondered what would happen if he passed before 20 January. THAT would be quite the sh!tshow!

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

Agree.  McConnell is 78,  part of the swamp, and needs to go.  Biden is also 78, part of the swamp, and needs to go.

Well I never. Is this your shot at being bipartisan?

Trump will be 78 come 2024. Should he go? Or are you basing your retirement criteria on whether they are swamp dwellers - you know, the one where Trump got rid of the alligators, and restocked it with crocodiles?

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

Agree.  McConnell is 78,  part of the swamp, and needs to go.  Biden is also 78, part of the swamp, and needs to go.

So you wont be voting for trump in 4 years. Cool.

3 minutes ago, J Town said:

Rarely do I agree with you, but you are absolutely right here. I saw Biden trudging along to his latest diatribe. He looked almost lost, stumbling like a frail old man, smiling and waving at the security guy holding the door for him - "Hi, I'm Joe. What's YOUR name?" I've honestly wondered what would happen if he passed before 20 January. THAT would be quite the sh!tshow!

I think there's a huge difference between Biden and McConnell. McConnell has totally flip flopped, stalled the senate, voted in a purely partisan manner, and really only cared about one thing. Judges.

 

Biden is middle of the road and has a reputation of bi partisanship.

 

In the end, sad these types are the best we can come up with. Shows the problems with democracy.

 

Mandatory retirement at 70 would be great.

5 minutes ago, J Town said:

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

Agree.  McConnell is 78,  part of the swamp, and needs to go.  Biden is also 78, part of the swamp, and needs to go.

Rarely do I agree with you, but you are absolutely right here. I saw Biden trudging along to his latest diatribe. He looked almost lost, stumbling like a frail old man, smiling and waving at the security guy holding the door for him - "Hi, I'm Joe. What's YOUR name?" I've honestly wondered what would happen if he passed before 20 January. THAT would be quite the sh!tshow!

I don't understand you guys obsession with age.  If Americans wanted a younger President, Americans would have elected a younger President.  But we didn't.  It is what it is. 

6 minutes ago, J Town said:

Rarely do I agree with you, but you are absolutely right here. I saw Biden trudging along to his latest diatribe. He looked almost lost, stumbling like a frail old man, smiling and waving at the security guy holding the door for him - "Hi, I'm Joe. What's YOUR name?" I've honestly wondered what would happen if he passed before 20 January. THAT would be quite the sh!tshow!

The difference will be, Biden will have competent advisers and he will listen to them. Trump never listened to anyone but himself.

While I don't wish Biden any ill, I think it would be hilarious if Harris stepped in as President. Trump's orange makeup would turn to puce, let the tweet wars begin.

Just now, Berkshire said:

I don't understand you guys obsession with age.  If Americans wanted a younger President, Americans would have elected a younger President.  But we didn't.  It is what it is. 

No. This goes back to the DCCC. They choose who the winner of the primary will be. They chose Joe because he's "one of the gang" and easily manipulated. It is NOT a fair process, don't believe that for a minute. The majority of ALL voters wanted Bernie, but corporations and Big Pharma wanted nothing to do with him.

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump's verbal and Twitter attacks,

 

will end after he's turfed out next month when the Presidential Twwt acct is handed over to the new President .. 

Twitter have stated that after that date if DT continues to try and use the platform to further his " we wuz' robbed " claims then as by that date he will be a mere mortal again he'll be severely admonished or banned .. 

Oh the ignomy of the very conduit that has been used to project his malevolence and selfishness that now threatens to cut him off as soon as he's lost the Presidential shield is not lost .. 

 

Edited December 16, 20205 yr by Justgrazing
Sp

32 minutes ago, J Town said:

No. This goes back to the DCCC. They choose who the winner of the primary will be. They chose Joe because he's "one of the gang" and easily manipulated. It is NOT a fair process, don't believe that for a minute. The majority of ALL voters wanted Bernie, but corporations and Big Pharma wanted nothing to do with him.

It's obvious they totally cheated and shafted Bernie, one of their own.  And If they did that, one would hardly expect them to do anything less to an opponent from the other party in a larger election.

13 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

It's obvious they totally cheated and shafted Bernie, one of their own.  And If they did that, one would hardly expect them to do anything less to an opponent from the other party in a larger election.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd . . . we're back to disagreeing. The DCCC did nothing illegal, they hid their bs in plain sight. That's the scope of their power. They have no impact on any Republican other than select the Dem opponent.