WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2020) US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday became the highest ranking Republican to congratulate Democratic President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris for their election win last month.
"As of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president elect," McConnell said. "Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result. But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January the 20th. The Electoral College has spoken. So, today, I want to congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden."
Biden, speaking to reporters later, said he looked forward to working with the Senate majority leader.
"I had a quick conversation with Mitch McConnell today," the president-elect said. "I called him to thank him for the congratulation. Though, on the whole, we disagree on a lot of things, I think there are things we can work together on. We agreed we get together sooner than later and I'm looking forward to working with him."
On Monday, the Electoral College met and gave Biden 306 electoral votes while giving Trump 232 electoral votes. A candidate must receive 270 electoral votes to become president.
McConnell cited Biden's near five decades' in office, including as vice-president during the Obama administration, and also spoke of Harris' historical ascension to the vice-president's chair, the first for a woman.
"The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate," McConnell said. "He's devoted himself to public service for many years. And I also want to congratulate the Vice President-Elect, our colleague from California, Senator Harris. Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time."
Trump has refused to concede his loss to Biden, saying the election was rife with fraud. He launched multiple legal challenges, including the last at the US Supreme Court, to nullify Biden's win and prevent the Electoral College from endorsing his Democratic rival. Almost all of those lawsuits, including the one at the Supreme Court, failed.
