Trumped: President gives green light for peaceful transition of power to Joe Biden
After weeks of pushback, President Donald Trump’s administration last night cleared the ground for President-elect Joe Biden to enter the White House.
The Repuplican has repeatedly claimed widespread voter fraud since the 3 November presidential election, but failed to muster up any evidence.
His administration has instead filed legal challenges to vote counts across the States, after repeatedly claiming Trump was the “real winner” of the election.
Although Trump did not acknowledge his Democratic rival’s victory, his announcement that his staff would cooperate with Biden’s represented a significant shift and marked his closest brush with admitting defeat.
“Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!,” Trump tweeted last night.
“Nevertheless, in the best interest of our country, I am recommending that Emily [Murphy] and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
Biden soared past the requisite 270 electoral vote mark to take 306 state-by-state votes in this month’s election, compared to Trump’s 232. Biden also holds a lead of more than 6m in the popular vote.
The Trump campaign’s legal efforts to overturn the election have fallen on deaf ears in key battleground states, and a growing number of Republican leaders, business executives and national security experts have urged the president to let the transition begin.
His concession last night came as Biden’s victory in the state of Michigan was officially certified, in a major blow to Trump.
The General Services Administration (GSA) said it was acknowledging Biden as the “apparent winner”, meaning the president-elect now has access to top security briefings, office space and government officials as he prepares to take office on 20 January.
His transition website has now changed to a US government domain, while he will soon take control of the presidential @Potus Twitter handle.
Biden will begin appointing key members to his presidential cabinet this afternoon, having already tapped trusted aide Antony Blinken to head the State Department, without waiting for government funding or a Trump concession.