An advisor to US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says it is the GOP’s “explicit feeling” to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, out of which former Vice President Joe Biden emerged victor.
“I think you know that the Electoral College made the definitive vote obviously ...and it's timely for Senator McConnell to move forward,” said West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito. “Let's turn the page and start a new administration and thank the previous one.”
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, refuses to concede defeat in the November 3 election although even his party is acknowledging Biden’s victory.
“I think everybody realized yesterday that counting the voting of the electors was a pivotal moment. And I agree,” said Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn.
Some Republicans are also crushing prospects of a challenge to the election results in US Congress next month.
“It creates a debate that has a certain outcome and that will certainly fail,” said Montana Republican Senator Roy Blunt.
The president-elect has been in touch with top GOP figures including, McConnell and Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney.
“Senator Romney congratulated President-elect Biden on his win and expressed admiration for his willingness to endure the rigors of a presidential campaign and serve in the nation’s highest office. ...The Senator wished him well,” a spokesperson for Romney said.
Biden is set to take the oath of office as president at a public ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, January 20, 2021, on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC.