Toomey Weakly Acknowledges That Biden Transition Should Proceed Like Those In Past

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is seen in the basement of the Capitol before a Senate vote on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is seen in the basement of the Capitol before a Senate vote on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) submitted an entry Wednesday to the collection of Republicans weakly acknowledging that President-Elect Joe Biden has won the election, saying that it would be better for his transition process to begin like those past.

“It does appear as though Joe Biden is likely to be certified as the President-elect relatively soon,” Toomey said during a Washington Post live interview. “And so, I think it’d be better if we did begin a transition process that we’ve had in the past. My guess is that will probably begin relatively soon.”

“I think that’s where it’s heading,” he added.

While admitting that “the media has a certain amount of evidence to make those projections,” he refused to confirm that Biden is president-elect now.

“It will be done soon enough and I think the outcome will be clear,” he added.

Insistence on waiting until all the votes are counted and the elections are certified — a standard Republicans certainly did not adhere to in 2016 when outlets called the election for President Donald Trump in the early hours of Wednesday morning — seems to be a way for some GOP lawmakers to coddle Trump’s refusal to concede without outrightly rejecting the clear results of the election.

A small number of senators, including Mitt Romney (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) have actually extended congratulations to Biden on his victory. Others, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) still entertain Trump’s baseless voter fraud accusations, but have asserted that Biden should be given the tools to begin his transition.

Others, like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have happily boarded the Trump delusion train.

There is simply no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would have to be present to undermine Biden’s decisive victory, and the Trump campaign’s lawsuits have been consistently unsuccessful.

While Trump’s petulant refusal to let Biden begin his transition is baseless, it is being propped up by members of his administration and elected Republicans alike.

Biden has dismissed Trump’s attitude as “an embarrassment,” maintaining that his transition is well underway whether the President likes it or not.

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Notable Replies

  1. The “Trump Train” has been switched to a dead-end siding to allow the “Biden Express” to run through.

  2. Avatar for chasfy chasfy says:

    Senator Toomey is my senator. It is not my fault.

  3. Toomey thinks that government is serious business. Trump sees it as reality tv, bad reality tv. Better script writers will probably write a screenplay about Trump’s Final Days, and it will be a farce or tragicomedy. With Kash Patel now installed at the Pentagon, Mr. Toomey needs to think more about how Shakespeare might approach the current situation rather than seeing his plight through the eyes of a calculating coward.

  4. “It does appear as though Joe Biden is likely to be certified as the President-elect relatively soon,” Toomey said during a Washington Post live interview. “And so, I think it’d be better if we did begin a transition process that we’ve had in the past. My guess is that will probably begin relatively soon.”

    It does appear that way, Pat. This is weak enough sauce but the cracks are starting to show. Great nations act great. They don’t indulge childish public tantrums or reality denial in their chief executives.

    BTW, Toomey also said the voters have already picked the slate of electors and agreed with other prominent GOP figures in the state that that’s the end of it. They’re slamming the door in Trump’s face. It’s. Over.

  5. The problem is the brakeman is insane and enabled. It will not end well for the enablers at all.

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