John Kasich calls Trump's refusal to concede 'absurd'


Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) may have endorsed President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 election, but he is still a member of the GOP, and finds the fact that so many of his fellow conservatives are not calling President Trump out for refusing to concede the election "extremely disappointing for someone who has been a Republican all of my life."
In an interview with NPR on Sunday, Kasich said it's clear Republicans haven't come out to roundly condemn Trump over his false claims of voter fraud because they are "either in complete lockstep" with the president or "they're afraid of him." Their fears involve being primaried or "severely criticized," Kasich added. "It's a pretty remarkable situation."
Kasich, who appeared at this summer's virtual Democratic National Convention, told NPR it's "absurd" that Trump won't concede, as Biden has "clearly won this election, and it is just sort of amazing to me that Republicans just keep sitting on their hands." Trump is being enabled, Kasich said, and he is concerned that this is slowing down the transition and will make it harder to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
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"It appears as though the vaccines are right on the horizon," Kasich said. "And it's an incredible logistical challenge to be able to distribute that to so many Americans that are going to be in a position to willingly accept the fact that they'd like the vaccine. You should have total cooperation." Read more at NPR.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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