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Republicans Are Standing By Trump, Even as the World Moves On

Leaders from around the world offered statements congratulating President-elect Joe Biden over the weekend, messages acknowledging the results of the election that President Donald Trump refuses to concede. Many foreign officials embraced the outcome as a return to cooperation and stability with the United States—relations that Trump has spent much of his presidency dismantling. “Welcome back America,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted, one of many leaders who emphasized climate change as a central policy focus that comes with America’s renewed presence on the international stage. 

“During the election campaign, Joe Biden made it clear that he believes in Team Play,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, according to the Washington Post. “We want the West to play as a team again.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “our transatlantic friendship is irreplaceable if we are to master the great challenges of our time.” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also spoke of multilateralism in an interview with the Associated Press: “We have common values. We have common interests. We have a common global perspective.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has maintained a close relationship with Trump, joined the G7 leaders in congratulating Biden.

Many leaders embraced Biden’s election as a symbolic end to Trump’s “America First” mentality, a go-it-alone strategy that has been a particular source of concern during the pandemic. Amid calls for urgent global cooperation, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated Biden, who has promised to rejoin the organization, in a Sunday tweet. As the Post notes, leaders of other international institutions against which Trump has leveled attacks, such as NATO and the European Union, also cited the need for enhanced cooperation in their congratulatory messages. “I know Mr. Biden as a strong supporter of NATO and the transatlantic relationship,” said Jens Stoltenberg, the head of the NATO alliance, who welcomed the opportunity “to further strengthen the bond between North America and Europe.” The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said the European Union was “ready to engage for a strong transatlantic partnership.”

Despite the swaths of foreign officials accepting Biden’s triumph over Trump, many Republicans have not. Most senior Republican lawmakers have abstained from issuing statements congratulating Biden, as is customary among leaders on both sides of the aisle after a presidential election is called. The silence follows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s lead. As the New York Times reported, the top Senate Republican was unwilling to even acknowledge Biden’s triumph on Saturday, instead directing reporters, via an aide, to a broad statement he made on Friday calling for “every legal vote” to count. The assertion was posted on Twitter in the midst of Trump’s dangerous lies about election fraud, baseless allegations that McConnell did not directly address. 

In addition to those who have gone silent since Biden hit 270, a number of senior Republicans have publicly cast doubt on the results and suggested that legal action, which the Trump campaign is pursuing to contest votes in several battleground states, could shift the outcome. “The election isn’t over until all legal votes are counted and certified. There are still serious legal challenges that have been made, and until that process is resolved, the election is not final,” Representative Steve Scalise tweeted, adding that the “American people deserve a fair and transparent process.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio said the media “don’t get to decide if claims of broken election laws & irregularities are true” and suggested Trump’s post-election litigation blitz has merit, despite there being no evidence of the president’s voter fraud claims.

Senator Josh Hawley, too, attacked the media and amplified Trump’s refusal to accept defeat on Saturday. “The media do not get to determine who the president is. The people do. When all lawful votes have been counted, recounts finished, and allegations of fraud addressed, we will know who the winner is,” the Missouri Republican said on Twitter.

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