Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election last month.
‘It took more than a month,’ the BBC reported, ‘but Mitch McConnell is now acknowledging the obvious – that Joe Biden will be the next US president.’
Donald Trump, meanwhile, still appears to be refusing to concede, continuing to make unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
When asked if Trump recognised Biden as president-elect, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany merely said the president was still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election.
However, speaking after the electoral college formally confirmed Biden’s victory over Trump – with 306 electoral college votes to Trump’s 232 – McConnell said from the Senate floor that he had hoped for a ‘different result’ from the 3 November election but the electoral college had spoken.
‘So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,’ he said. Congratulating Biden’s running-mate, Kamala Harris, McConnell added: ‘All Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.’
Harris told ABC News that that she welcomed McConnell’s comments, adding: ‘It would have been better if it were earlier but it happened, and that’s what’s most important. Let’s move forward. And where we can find common purpose and common ground, let’s do that.’
[Picture: Gage Skidmore, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86059694]