WASHINGTON — The top Republican in the US Congress said Monday that President Donald Trump was fully entitled to challenge election results in multiple states, insisting that such scrutiny would not undermine democracy.
"President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the first congressional day of a lame-duck presidency, with Trump refusing so far to concede to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump and his team have insisted the race is not over, and multiple Republican lawmakers have urged the president not to concede, even as US networks projected Saturday that Biden won the election with at least 279 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 needed for victory.
The White House has launched legal challenges in several states where the race was close, particularly in pivotal battleground Pennsylvania, where Biden is ahead by more than 45,000 votes or about 0.67%, according to networks.
If irregularities had occurred of a magnitude that would affect the outcome, "then every single American should want them to be brought to light." And if Democrats were confident that the vote was fair, "they should have no reason to fear any extra scrutiny," McConnell said.
"Suffice it to say a few legal inquiries from the president do not exactly spell the end of the republic," he added.
"We respect the rule of law, we trust our institutions."
No credible evidence of widespread fraud or voter irregularities has emerged, according to election authorities in several states and from both political parties.
Trump has nonetheless repeatedly claimed that massive fraud has occurred, proclaiming Saturday on Twitter: "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!"
The 2020 races hinged on a handful of swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina.
Trump and his allies, in an effort to delegitimize the US media's Biden victory call, have declared that thousands of "illegal" ballots were changing the results in these razor-thin races. — AFP, November 10, 2020
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