US election: George W. Bush congratulates the victor as Donald Trump digs in for legal fight

Former Republican president ­George W. Bush led the moderates in his party in sending ‘warm congratulations’ to Joe Biden.

Former US president George W. Bush in 2019. Picture: AFP

Former Republican president ­George W. Bush led the moderates in his party in sending “warm congratulations” to Joe Biden, but many contemporary GOP figures stopped short of accepting defeat as US President Donald Trump refused to concede.

Mr Bush, 74, called Mr Biden on the phone to “thank him for the patriotic message he delivered last night (in his victory speech)” in a traditional gesture that seems a relic of a bygone era, with Mr Trump digging in for a legal fight.

Other well-known party figures who openly welcomed Mr Biden as the next president were either centrists or known critics of Mr Trump. Most trod a fine line between nursing the President’s grievances and suggesting that the game would soon be up without firm evidence of fraud.

“I just talked to the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night,” said Mr Bush, who was president from 2001 to 2009 and is younger than both Mr Biden, 77, and Mr Trump, also 74.

His words had extra significance because he fought and won a protracted legal battle for the presidency against Al Gore in 2000, when the Supreme Court stepped in to stop recounts in Florida. The dispute was over a margin of fewer than 600 votes.

“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” said Mr Bush, the only living former Republican president.

He also congratulated Mr Trump and his supporters “on a hard-fought campaign”.

“He earned the votes of more than 70 million Americans — an extraordinary political achievement. They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government.”

Mr Bush said that Mr Trump “has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated”.

But he added: “The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld and its outcome is clear.”

His brother Jeb Bush, 67, a former governor of Florida who failed to win the party’s presidential nomination in 2016 against Mr Trump, tweeted: “Congratulations to President-elect Biden. I have prayed for our president most of my adult life. I will be ­praying for you and your success. Now is the time to heal deep wounds. Many are counting on you to lead the way.”

Chris Christie, 58, a former governor of New Jersey who helped Mr Trump prepare for the first TV debate with Mr Biden, was the first figure close to the inner Trump circle to suggest it was nearly time to accept defeat.

He told ABC News that he had been friends with Mr Trump for 20 years “but friendship doesn’t mean that you’re blind”.

He added: “Friendship means that you will listen to somebody, give them their opportunity and if they don’t come forward with the proof, then it’s time to move on.

“If your base is for not conceding (because) there was voter fraud, then show us because if you don’t show us, we can’t do this. We can’t back you blindly without evidence.”

Mitt Romney, 73, a senator for Utah and a former presidential nominee who has been the most outspoken Republican critic of Mr Trump from the chamber, said he did not see the President going “quietly in the night” after Mr Biden’s victory.

“You’re not going to change the nature of President Trump … he has a relatively relaxed relationship with the truth,” Senator Romney told CNN.

He added: “I’m convinced that once all remedies have been exhausted, if those are exhausted in a way that’s not favourable to him, he will accept the inevitable.

“I would prefer to see a more graceful departure but that’s just not in the nature of the man.”

The mood of the circle around Mr Trump was reflected by Ted Cruz, 49, a Texas senator who lost to Mr Trump in 2016 and still harbours presidential ambitions.

“The media does not get to select our president,” he said. “The American people get to elect our president. At this point, we should allow the rule of law and legal process to operate.”

The Times