Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who chairs the Senate Rules Committee that is responsible for overseeing the election and formerly served as Missouri’s secretary of state, was anything but blunt when asked whether he accepts Joe Biden as president-elect, during an interview on CNN Sunday.
A small but growing contingent of Republican lawmakers have slowly come around to accepting the reality that President Trump’s presidency is ending in January after the sitting president’s flailing attempts at legally challenging the election results have fallen flat.
On Sunday, Blunt appeared unfazed by the recent blows dealt to Trump’s attempts at delegitimizing Biden’s legitimate election victory.
“Well, we’re certainly moving forward as if that what is going to happen on January the 20th,” Blunt said when asked on CNN whether he acknowledges Biden as president-elect. “We are working with the Biden administration, likely administration, on both the transition and the inauguration as if we are moving forward.”
Blunt once again declined to acknowledge that Biden is president-elect as he argued that the title isn’t valid until after the Electoral College meets in its states in mid-December.
“Well, the president-elect will be the president-elect when the electors vote for him. There is no official job of president-elect,” Blunt said.
When asked whether he had seen any evidence of widespread fraud in the election, Blunt replied that Trump’s legal team had failed to present evidence “that was acceptable to any court.”
“I think there were things that could have been done differently and better to ensure there weren’t voter fraud,” Blunt said. “I think the system, frankly, was more secure than it’s ever been before. And the President deserves some credit for that.”
Blunt, however, denied that the election was “rigged” later in the interview.
“I don’t think it was rigged. But I do think there were some things that were done that shouldn’t have been done,” Blunt said. “And I think there was some element of voter fraud, as there is in every election. But I don’t have any reason to believe that the numbers are there that would have made that difference.”
Watch Blunt’s remarks below:
Sen. Roy Blunt won't yet acknowledge the reality that Joe Biden is president-elect pic.twitter.com/yVG7iAcOwL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 29, 2020
