WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that the Trump administration’s refusal to authorize the start of the official transition process “does not in any way change the dynamic of what we’re able to do.”
“We have already started the transition, we are well under way,” Biden said at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware.
Asked what he thought of President Donald Trump’s refusal so far to concede, Biden said: “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly.”
Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election on Saturday, after he secured the 270 electoral college votes needed to defeat Trump. Yet the president has so far refused to accept that he lost, and baselessly claims that Biden’s win is the result of “illegal votes.”
Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in several states over various elements of the vote or the vote counting. Legal experts say the suits appear more like one piece of a public relations than they do a legal strategy.
As of Tuesday, Trump still claimed he would win the election, despite the fact that Biden has already secured more than 270 electoral votes, or that Trump is trailing by tens of thousands of votes in key states where counting is still under way.
“WE WILL WIN!” the president tweeted hours before Biden’s remarks.
Biden, however, largely dismissed Trump’s posturing.
“We’re going to be moving along in a consistent manner, putting together our administration within the White House and reviewing who we’re going to pick for the Cabinet positions,” said Biden. “And nothing’s going to stop that.”
“The fact that they’re not willing to acknowledge that we won at this point is not of much consequence in our planning and what we’re able to do between now and Jan. 20,” he added.
Biden also said he was not reliant on the federal government authorizing funding for the transition, or on having access to federal agencies.
So far, the Trump administration has signaled to the Executive Branch that they are not to engage in any way with the Biden transition effort.
Biden acknowledged that it would be “useful” for him to begin receiving the full Presidential Daily Briefings that are typically given to presidents-elected, but he added that he would not be able to act on the national security information he was briefed on as long as Trump was still in office. “One president at a time,” he said.
Overall, Biden projected calm and confidence.
“How do you expect to work with Republicans if they won’t even acknowledge you as President-elect?” o reporter asked.
“They will,” Biden replied. “They will.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
