Former President Barack Obama said President-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 election “decisively” and that President Trump’s refusal to accept the results is due to his “petulance.”
“One of the really distressing things about the current situation is the amount of time that is being lost because of Donald Trump’s petulance and the unwillingness of other Republicans to call him on it,” Obama told the Atlantic on Monday.
While most major news organizations have called the election for Biden, Trump has vowed to continue the fight in court. His campaign has filed numerous lawsuits in battleground states claiming election fraud, while also forcing recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia. In the meantime, Trump has refused to concede the election to Biden.
But Obama said that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris won “pretty decisively,” though he admitted it “wasn’t a blowout” like some polls and pundits expected.
“And almost every Republican elected official knows that,” Obama said. “There were no howls of voting irregularities the first day or two. They waited to get the signal from Trump.”
While Biden won in key battleground states to secure the election, he did so by 1 point or less in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, squeaking out a victory that polls indicated should have come much easier for the former vice president.
With so many states decided by such slim margins, Trump has delayed working with Biden’s transition team. But Obama pointed to the example of former President George W. Bush, whom Obama praised as “gracious” in the aftermath of the 2008 Election.
“For all the differences between myself and George W. Bush, he and his administration could not have been more gracious and intentional about ensuring a smooth handoff,” Obama said.
Biden’s transition team has said they are “charging ahead” with the transition process, while the General Services Administration has yet to declare Biden the winner of the election.
GSA chief Emily Murphy has not signed the letter of “ascertainment,” which would allow Biden’s transition team to access funds meant to ensure a smooth transition of power.
