President-elect Joe Biden told the nation President Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his victory was an ’embarrassment’ Tuesday but took a casual approach to being blocked from an ordinary transition.
He told reporters in Wilmington he has not yet spoken to the president, who tweeted Tuesday that he ‘will win’ and claimed the election was filled with ‘abuse,’ nor has he connected with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
‘Mr. President I look forward to speaking with you,’ Biden said, asked his message for Trump.
‘I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly. I think it will not help the president’s legacy,’ Biden predicted.
Not a single Trump administration official has acknowledged the win that networks declared, but Biden took a low-key approach.
He grinned and joked when asked about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying there will be a transition to a second Trump term.
‘So far there is no evidence of any of the assertions made by the president or secretary of state Pompeo,’ he said.
‘The fact that they’re not willing to acknowledge we won at this point is not of much consequence in our planning,’ he said.
Even with party stalwarts raising alarms about the transition period – and taking an alarming posture as Trump puts forward claims of fraud without evidence and conducts a purge of agency officials – Biden took a sunny posture. Just four Senate Republicans out of 53 have congratulated him on his win.