Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on Tuesday took aim President Trump for stalling President-elect Joe Biden’s transition amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The sitting POTUS has continued waging baseless claims of widespread voter fraud following Biden’s projected win last weekend.
After criticizing the Attorney General Bill Barr’s memo that allows federal prosecutors to investigate unfounded allegations of election fraud in the 2020 presidential race — a reversal of long-held DOJ policy — as “wildly inappropriate,” Baker went on to rebuke the Trump administration’s refusal to let Biden formally begin the transition process, especially in light of surging COVID-19 cases.
“I can’t think of a worse time to stall a transition than amid a deadly pandemic that the federal government continues to own primary responsibility for responding to,” Baker said.
Baker said that if the Trump campaign “has legitimate legal challenges, they should bring them to court,” and that those lawsuits should be dealt with “as quickly and as fairly as possible.”
Baker — who “blanked” his presidential vote after Biden’s presidential win was projected on Saturday — added that he is “aware of no legitimate claims of wrongdoing anywhere near the scale it would take to effect this outcome.”
“And there’s no credible third party entity that’s verified the President’s claims in any way,” Baker said. “Continuing to make these claims erodes trust in the system when, in fact, the election system is working exactly as it was designed to do.”
Additionally, Baker brought up that many Republican officials overseeing elections in battleground states with tight races — which include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — had denied the Trumpworld’s claims of voting irregularities.
“Every campaign season we hear a lot about doing what’s best for the country,” Baker said. “And what this President is doing at this point in time is not in the best interest of this country. The administration needs to move forward and cooperate with the President-elect’s transition team immediately.”
Last week, Baker characterized Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the election process by spouting unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud as Biden appeared to lead in several swing states as “damaging to democracy.”
After multiple news outlets projected Biden’s presidential victory on Saturday, Baker emerged as one of the few elected Republican officials to congratulate the President-elect.
I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on their victory.
This has been a long and divisive campaign, but now it is critical for us all to focus on the very real and immediate challenges facing this nation.
— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) November 7, 2020
Watch Baker’s remarks below:
