Defiant Pompeo predicts 'smooth transition' to a 2nd Trump administration
The world should have confidence that the State Department will remain functional, the secretary said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A defiant Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday predicted a “smooth transition” to a second Trump administration, as members of the administration continued to express doubt that President-elect Joe Biden won the presidential election.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said at a news conference, when asked when the State Department would start working with the Biden transition team.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News and other media outlets called the race for Biden on Saturday, projecting that the Democratic nominee would beat President Trump in Nevada and Pennsylvania to garner him the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win.
But President Trump and his allies have alleged that Trump has, in fact, won, and the results have been marred by “illegal” votes and what Trump has described as “shenanigans.” However, it has not yet provided evidence of mass voter fraud.
Pompeo said Tuesday that “all the votes” must be counted, and said Americans should wait until the process is completed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We’re ready, the world is watching what is taking place, we’re gonna count all the votes, when the process is complete, there'll be electors selected, there's a process,” he said. “The Constitution lays it out pretty clearly and the world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure the State Department is functional today, successful today, and successful with a president who is in office on January 20th a minute after noon will also be successful.”
Asked if he believed if there was widespread voter fraud, he said that he had spoken with world leaders who “understand that this takes time” and said it was important that legal votes, and not illegal votes be counted.
BIDEN PLANS TO REJOIN PARIS AGREEMENT AND WHO, UNDO OTHER TRUMP DECISIONS ON DAY 1
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I am very confident that we will count and we must count every legal vote, we must make sure that any vote that was unlawful not be counted,” he said. “When we get it right, we’ll get it right."
The Trump campaign has filed a number of lawsuits in swing states concerning the election, and while some Republicans have accepted a Biden win, others are urging caution.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Trump is “100% within his rights” to question election results and consider legal options.
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“Our institutions are actually built for this,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate. “We have the system in place to consider concerns and President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.”
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.