Mike Pompeo: ‘There will be a smooth transition to the second Trump administration’
The Secretary of State said Trump would remain president in January despite Biden being the projected winner in the election
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is not acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden’s win and instead said at a press briefing that he expects a continuation of the current Trump administration.
Pompeo was asked on Tuesday if the State Department would cooperate with Biden’s transition team after he was projected to be the next president of the United States. Pompeo responded with the assertion that President Donald Trump would remain in office.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said. “We’re ready. The world is watching what’s taking place. We’re going to count all the votes. When the process is complete, there will be electors selected.”
Pompeo went on to cite the US Constitution as the reason why he wasn’t worried about any threat to the national security of the United States amid the rancor of the election.
Read More: Fox News cuts away from WH ‘illegal votes’ press conference
“There’s a process and the Constitution lays it out pretty clearly. The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today and successful today and successful with a president who is in office on January 20, a minute after noon, will also be successful,” he said.
The winner of last Tuesday’s election wasn’t confirmed until Saturday when Biden was named the projected winner after votes were counted in his home state of Pennsylvania. His victory there gave him the 270 Electoral College votes needed to become president. But Trump has refused to concede, alleging voter fraud despite not providing any proof and has taken his claims to the courts. Pompeo’s refusal to acknowledge Biden as the duly elected president is in line with some Republican lawmakers but as theGrio reported, even Trump’s top advisors are encouraging him to concede.
Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson deemed there was “nothing to congratulate him about,” when asked about Biden.
Read More: Trump admin orders federal agencies to resist Biden transition team
Per theGrio, the president has also taken to social media to deny the election results.
“We believe these people are thieves. The big city machines are corrupt. This was a stolen election. Best pollster in Britain wrote this morning that this clearly was a stolen election, that it’s impossible to imagine that Biden outran Obama in some of these states,” he declared in a tweet that was flagged by Twitter.
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