Mitch McConnell Acknowledges Biden’s Victory As President-Elect For The First Time

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Joe Biden‘s win on Tuesday morning for the first time, referring to him as the President-elect six weeks after Election Day.

“The electoral college has spoken,” McConnell said. “Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.” McConnell also noted Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for the first time, stating “all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.”

“The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” Sen. Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday. He also congratulated Sen. Kamala Harris of California, referring to her as the vice president-elect. https://t.co/ujSsohsmor pic.twitter.com/HnQuSQH9TC

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 15, 2020

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

McConnell made his comments after listing the accomplishments achieved by the Trump administration in a floor speech, including the country’s “economic prosperity,” “foreign policy” and “bold regulatory changes.”

He also claimed that although millions of American’s wished the election would have generated a different result, “our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January the 20th. The Electoral College has spoken.”

Additionally, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), a member of the Senate GOP leadership and leader of the congressional inauguration committee, said they will be meeting to discuss the inauguration ceremony for Biden on January 20 after the Electoral College declared the winner on Monday afternoon.

“We’ve now gone through the constitutional process and the electors have voted, so there’s a President-elect,” Blunt said. “With Vice Present Biden as the President-elect, the President continues, obviously, to have all the options he has available to him, but the electoral vote today was significant.”