US election: Donald Trump backs start of transition process
Donald Trump accepts the formal transition process needs to move forward but says he will continue to fight the result.
Donald Trump has accepted the formal transition process for Joe Biden’s administration needs to move forward but says he will continue to fight to overturn the election result.
Mr Trump was commenting after the head of General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, chose to effectively recognise Joe Biden as the winner of the election and begin the formal transition process.
Ms Murphy, a Trump appointment, had been the subject of withering criticism from Democrats for delaying her assessment that Mr Biden was the president-elect.
Her decision to recognise his expected victory means Mr Biden’s team will have access to funding, office space, intelligence briefings and agency meetings required to prepare for him assuming the presidency in January.
Ms Murphy said that she came to the decision “because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results.”
“I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,” Ms Murphy said in the letter to Mr Biden.
The move amounts to a formal declaration of Mr Biden’s victory, but the president responded by saying he would keep up “the good fight.”
“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country,’ Mr Trump tweeted. ‘She has been harassed, threatened and abused.
“Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!
“Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
...fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
In her letter to Mr Biden, Ms Murphy said she made her decision independently and was never pressured by the White House or others. But she did say she was subjected to “thousands” of threats to herself, her family and even her pets.
Mr Biden and his team had been calling on the GSA to determine him as the winner. They warned that any delay in the transition process could cost lives because it might delay the rapid rollout of a coronavirus vaccine.
The GSA decision means that Mr Trump is increasingly isolated in his claims to have won the election. It comes after a series of legal setbacks in Michigan and Pennsylvania which have made the president’s unlikely legal bid to overturn the election results all but impossible.
On Tuesday (AEDT) a four-member canvassing board in Michigan formally awarded Michigan’s 16 electoral college votes to Mr Biden. The decision came despite numerous attempts by Mt Trump’s legal team to overturn the result in that state despite Mr Biden leading by more than 155,000 votes.
Mr Trump also met with senior Michigan Republicans to explore whether they might interfere in the outcome, but they refused.
The president’s last hope rests with last ditch legal appeals in Pennsylvania and recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia, none of which is expected to change the results in those states.
A growing number of Republicans have called for the president to end his quest to prove that the election was fraudulent. But Mr Trump has continued to fight to result despite losing a series of legal cases in courts across six states.
(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)
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