GOP Ohio Gov Makes Clear Biden Is POTUS-Elect Amid Most GOPers’ Refusal To Do So

US President Donald Trump speaks with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine upon arrival at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio on October 24, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Thursday clearly acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden won the presidential election amid most Republicans’ reluctance to do so, as President Trump refuses to concede and attempts to delegitimize the election process.

“We need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect,” DeWine said during an interview on CNN Thursday morning. “Joe Biden is the president-elect.”

However, DeWine also told CNN on Thursday morning that Trump has a right to go to court.

“I’m a former prosecutor,” DeWine told CNN on Thursday morning. “I’m a great believer in the ability to have your courts and go in to make your case and they have every right to do that and that looks like what they are trying to do.”

DeWine had initially congratulated Biden for his election victory in a statement issued Monday, but appeared to echo Trump and the President’s allies in their efforts to launch legal battles as they continue waging baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.

After congratulating Biden on Monday, DeWine — who served as the co-chair of Trump’s re-election committee in Ohio, which the President has been projected to win by 8 percentage points — said “when lawsuits have concluded and election results are certified, it is important for all Americans to honor the outcome.”

DeWine’s clear acknowledgment of Biden’s victory starkly contrasts with the messaging of his state’s Republican Party, which backs Trump’s legal challenges in battleground states that he is projected to lose as he baselessly alleges that Democrats are conspiring to “STEAL” the election.

DeWine’s latest remarks also come amid many Republicans on Capitol Hill having yet to weigh in on Trump’s refusal to concede, while some continue to egg on the President’s unfounded voter fraud allegations.

Only a handful of Republicans have come out of the woodwork to gently suggest that Trump finally concede. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) are the only other Republican governors thus far to congratulate Biden on his overall victory.

Watch DeWine’s remarks below:

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Notable Replies

  1. I’m beside myself right now. I’ve had enough. I’ve seen enough. I want him out of the WH and back to Mar a Lardo fast, like a hissing cockroach juiced on angel dust scuttling towards a crevice in a baseboard.

  2. The cracks in the wall are spreading. They will continue to do so until the whole thing comes tumbling down.

  3. “We need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect,” DeWine said during an interview on CNN Thursday morning. “Joe Biden is the president-elect.”

    President fires governor Mike DeWine in 3…2…1…

  4. As the GOP leadership responds forcefully and righteously, as usual…

    Nevermind…

  5. Avatar for dave48 dave48 says:

    It appears as though this facade should be ending in about a week or two. With more and more Republicans breaking rank and acknowledging Biden’s victory, it becomes harder for the ones denying it to go forward. Once the Secretaries of state start certifying the results, they’ll be nothing more for team Trump to do but mope.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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