Elections

McConnell congratulates Biden on election victory, draws criticism from some conservatives

Published

3 years ago

December 15, 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Tuesday after the Electoral College elected them Monday, saying that “[t]he Electoral College has spoken”.

This is the first time that the influential Kentucky Republican acknowledged their 2020 election victory and comes as President Donald Trump and his allies refuse to concede, even after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down a case that had been seen as a last-ditch attempt from Texas and other states to overturn the results in a few swing states that went for Biden.

“Yesterday electors met in all 50 states. So as of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

“Our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20. The Electoral College has spoken,” he said. “So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.”

McConnell also offered some warm words to Biden and Harris, saying that the former is “no stranger to the Senate, he’s devoted himself to public service for many years.” The longtime Republican leader also acknowledged the history made by Harris being elected as the first female vice president, remarking, “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.”

While McConnell said many Americans had hoped the election would produce a different result, saying that “many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20.”

He also praised President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, listing GOP victories from the past four years, including things such as the 2017 tax cuts and the confirmation of three Supreme Court justices.

“The outsider who swore he would shake up Washington and lead our country to new accomplishments, both at home and abroad, proceeded to do exactly that,” McConnell said of the outgoing president.

The White House was informed that the top Senate Republican would be delivering the remarks he gave on Tuesday in his floor speech, two people familiar with the process told The Wall Street Journal.

Additionally, McConnell’s statement comes after other top Senate Republicans on Monday acknowledged their election victory following the Electoral College’s certification.

On a Tuesday conference call, McConnell and others in the Republican leadership reportedly urged their fellow Republicans to not to engage in any attempts to object to certifying Biden’s election win in the January 6 joint session of Congress, two sources on the call told Axios in a Tuesday report.

Many conservative figures across Twitter reacted angrily to McConnell and other top Senate Republicans acknowledging Biden’s victory, with some figures using profanity, such as Ron Perlman.

If Senate Republicans want to lose the Georgia races and their majority, conceding the presidential election to Joe Biden and congratulating Kamala Harris is a good place to start.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 15, 2020

2. Trump helped you secure your seat, as he did so man Senate and House seats, and you couldn't even wait until January 6th. You've been the GOP "leader" in the Senate for far too long. It's time for some fresh thinking and new blood.https://t.co/ucaa2cmmcQ
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) December 15, 2020

I personally don’t care if Cocaine Mitch acknowledges Joe Biden as the President-Elect. He will always be an irredeemable traitorous piece of shit to me. Hey @senatemajldr, if you’re reading this, go fuck yourself.
— Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) December 15, 2020

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Elections

Trump, Rep Biggs: invoking the Alien Enemies Act to enable widespread deportation will ‘be necessary’

Published

21 hours ago

September 22, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

At a recent rally in Iowa, former President Donald Trump promised that if elected again in 2024, he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to enable widespread deportation of migrants who have illegally entered the United States. Since President Joe Biden took office in January of 2021, over 6 million people have illegally entered the country.

Republican Representative Andy Biggs from border state Arizona, which is among the states suffering the greatest consequences from the Biden administration policies, lamented that Trump’s suggestion will be “necessary.”

Speaking on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show, Biggs stated “[I]t’s actually gonna have to be necessary.” Biggs then added his thoughts on how many more people will continue to cross the border under Biden: “Because by the time Trump gets back in office, you will have had over 10 million, in my opinion, over 10 million illegal aliens cross our border and come into the country, under the Biden regime.”

“And so when you start deporting people, and removing them from this country, what that does is that disincentivizes the tens of thousands of people who are coming,” Biggs went on. “And by the way, everyday down in Darién Gap, which is in Panama… over 5,000 people a day. [I] talk[ed] to one of my sources from the gap today. And I will just tell you, those people that you’ve seen come come in to Eagle Pass, over 7,000 in a three day period, most of those two weeks ago, were down crossing into the Darién Gap.”

“And those people… make their way up and they end up in the Eagle Pass [Texas], Del Rio area,” he continued. “So if you want to disincentivize them, you remove them from the country, which is why they remain in Mexico policy was so doggone effective at slowing down illegal border crossings.”