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.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

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