Mitch McConnell Says ‘Every Legal Vote’ Needs To Be Counted
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to Twitter on Friday to say that “every legal vote” in the 2020 presidential election needs to be counted.
As the race grew tighter on Thursday, President Donald Trump doubled down on his remarks that there was widespread voter fraud taking place in the November 3 contest during a speech at the White House. As reported by CNN, the Republican candidate baselessly claimed that there was illegitimate vote counting underway, and that he was being “cheated.”
“This is a case where they’re trying to steal an election, they’re trying to rig an election, and we can’t let that happen,” the U.S. president said.
Three days after Election Day, the Senate’s majority leader appeared to support Trump’s claims by suggesting there were “illegally-submitted” votes.
“Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted. Any illegally-submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes. That’s how Americans’ votes decide the result,” Mitch McConnell tweeted.
Despite Trump’s comments, there has been no legitimate proof that any sort of voter fraud took place in this year’s race. His White House speech came just as his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, started to close the percentage gap in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, where mail-in ballots are still being counted. As of Friday morning, Biden was slightly ahead of Trump in the Georgia race, according to the Associated Press.
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans stepped forward to denounce the commander in chief’s comments, as per an Axios report. One of his top allies and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told ABC that Trump needed to have the “evidence” to back up his own statements.
“This kind of thing, all it does is inflame without informing. And we cannot permit inflammation without information,” said Christie.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum also called out the president’s unfounded claims, deeming his rhetoric “dangerous.”
Joe Biden’s comments strikingly contrasted Trump’s. The former VP appeared at his home in Delaware alongside his running mate, Kamala Harris, to call for “patience” as the votes continued to be counted, The Guardian reported.
“In America, the vote is sacred. Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience, as well. But that patience has been rewarded now for 240 years with a system of governance that’s been the envy of the world,” Biden said.
While the U.S. administration may flip from red to blue, Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell, on the other hand, held on to his seat for a seventh term, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
