Biden: Trump not conceding the election is an 'embarrassment'
President-elect Joe Biden described President Trump not conceding the 2020 election as an "embarrassment" while dismissing his refusal as having little "consequence" to his transition process.
Biden spoke to reporters on Tuesday, three days after he was projected as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and as Trump mounts legal challenges in battleground states while not conceding the race.
"I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly," Biden said of the lack of concession. "How can I say this tactfully? I think it will not help the president's legacy."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At the same time, Biden said Trump not acknowledging his win does not "change the dynamic" of his transition process and that it's moving forward as if the president had conceded.
"The fact that they're not willing to acknowledge we won, at this point, is not of much consequence in our planning and what we're able to do between now and Jan. 20," Biden said.
With few Senate Republicans conceding that Biden won the election, the president-elect said the party is in the position of "being mildly intimidated by the sitting president." But asked how he'll work with Republicans when they won't acknowledge him as the president-elect, Biden predicted, "They will." Brendan Morrow
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
‘Human trafficking isn’t something that happens “somewhere else”’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What would a credit card rate cap mean for you?the explainer President Donald Trump has floated the possibility of a one-year rate cap
-
Is the American era officially over?Talking Points Trump’s trade wars and Greenland push are alienating old allies
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
