Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran says ‘every indication’ is that Biden is president-elect
Sen. Jerry Moran became the first Republican member of Congress from Kansas to acknowledge Joe Biden’s status as president-elect Tuesday, more than two weeks after Biden was declared the projected winner by The Associated Press.
“Every indication that I know of is that Joe Biden is the president-elect,” Moran said Tuesday during an event in Topeka.
Moran’s comments come a day after the General Services Administration issued a letter acknowledging Biden’s status as president-elect, which allows the transition process to formally begin with access to federal funds and briefings from federal agencies.
It also comes the same day Pennsylvania certified its election results and a day after Michigan did the same.
“Vice President Biden, as a result of those certifications, I think, becomes the president-elect,” Moran said.
Moran made the remarks in response to a reporter’s question outside Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka, where he had met with hospital officials. The facility has come under severe strain as doctors and nurses have been forced to hold COVID-19 patients in hallways and waiting rooms.
President Donald Trump’s supporters were hopeful that they would be able to prevent certification in the key swing state and create a theoretical opportunity for their Republican-controlled legislatures to award their electoral votes to Trump, a strategy that had little legal basis or likelihood of success.
Trump’s campaign has repeatedly and baselessly asserted widespread fraud in the election, but its court filings have contained scant evidence to support the wild accusation and judges have shown little patience for its assertion.
Some litigation remains pending and Trump has not yet conceded, but with the GSA’s formal acknowledgment Biden can move forward with the transition unimpeded.
After answering a question about Biden, Moran took several others on COVID-19 before returning, unprompted, to the election. He then made clear Trump had all but exhausted his legal options for fighting the result.
“I indicated earlier the president had the authority, the ability, he’s entitled contest the election and the courts would make a determination whether there was a problem. That is about over,” Moran said.
The president’s refusal to concede has created a political tight rope for Republican lawmakers. Trump remains popular with the Republican base and GOP lawmakers have shown little willingness to challenge Trump as he has promoted conspiracy theories about the election in recent weeks.
Moran said in a Monday night newsletter that Trump had the right to request recounts and use the courts, but he also urged constituents to “respect the results of a free and fair election.”
“We cannot afford to spend the next four years divided over who won the election or denying the legitimacy of the president as was the case for President Trump throughout his presidency,” Moran said in his newsletter without explicitly referring to Biden’s victory.
Moran made a similar point on Tuesday, saying that when an election is over, “then it’s time for us to come together.” But in a nod to Republicans and Trump supporters, he added that “I don’t know that President Trump got this kind of treatment.”
Moran’s newsletter comment was likely a reference to investigations into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, a sore spot for Trump throughout his presidency.
But he neglected to note that on the morning after the 2016 election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said: “Donald Trump is going to be our president,” she said. “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
President Barack Obama’s administration also cooperated with Trump’s transition team immediately. “My number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful,” Obama said at the time.
Other GOP lawmakers from the region have so far avoiding acknowledging Biden’s victory, including Sen. Pat Roberts, the retiring Kansas Republican who served alongside Biden in the Senate.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican and potential contender for the presidency in 2024, has implicitly acknowledged Biden’s victory by attacking on social media his hiring choices for the incoming administration. But he has not referred to Biden as president-elect yet.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
