Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Republicans to drop their support of President Trump’s election challenge, warning it is damaging the nation.
“The Republican refusal to deal with reality is hurting our country in many ways: fighting the health crisis of COVID, improving our economy, and not compromising on national security,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters on Thursday. “It’s time to move on and get to work for the American people.”
Senate Republicans have largely avoided congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and are supporting Trump’s decision to challenge election results in several states.
Georgia will conduct a recount of all ballots by hand, officials announced this week. Biden is ahead by about 11,000 votes. Trump is challenging ballot counting in several other states, including Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.
Democrats argue Trump’s challenge is futile and that Biden is significantly ahead in all the states he’s challenging.
Schumer said Trump’s legal challenges “are being laughed at in court,” and he called the lawsuits “frivolous,” with “less than a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding.”
Schumer said Republicans need to drop their support of Trump and embrace Biden and a mandate to pass a significant coronavirus aid package that the GOP has so far rejected. Schumer said the package is needed because coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are climbing across the United States.
“Let me speak directly to my Republican colleagues in the Senate,” Schumer said. “Once again, Joe Biden has won. Now, move on and work with us to solve the COVID crisis. Let us bring the country together and get things done. Hundreds of thousands are getting sick. Thousands are dying. We don’t have time for these kinds of games. The American people are waiting for relief from the COVID virus.”
Republicans back a targeted approach to providing federal aid and oppose the massive spending package that Democrats are pushing. Senate Republicans twice voted for a bill providing $500 billion in coronavirus aid, but Democrats blocked it.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he hopes to pass a new coronavirus aid package in the coming weeks but will not pass the Democratic proposal that would cost between $2 trillion and $3.7 trillion.
