More Republicans urge Trump to begin Biden transition

A growing number of Republicans are urging lame-duck US President Donald Trump to begin the transition of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“It’s clear, that certainly based on what we know now, that Joe Biden is the president-elect and that transition for the country’s sake, it’s important for a normal transition to start through,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine told CNN on Sunday. “And the president could go on his other track, his legal track, we should respect that, but we also need to begin that process.”

Trump has refused to concede defeat in the disputed election and legally challenged the results in favor of the former vice president in some key states.

“I’d say this to both sides of this, and I was certainly a supporter of and remain a supporter of the president, but the president has every right to go into court, every right to bring any kind of evidence that he has and no one should begrudge him that or say that there’s anything irregular about that,” DeWine said.

‘GOP voters not as stupid as Dems think’

There were, meanwhile, concerns that Trump’s refusal to transition the president-elect could pose security threats to the United States.

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The United States has seen nationwide protests in support of both presidential candidates.

"A new government cannot start on January 20 from a standing-still position. This is what transitions are for. Intelligence briefings, [presidential daily briefings], when you're in office, in national security are your eyes and ears,” said  former Director of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also told NBC that, “I expect Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States.”

“It is very important that Joe Biden have access to the intelligence briefings to make sure that he is prepared,” Hutchinson said. “During times of transition our enemies have an opportunity to take advantage of us, and we want to make sure that there is a smooth transition, particularly when it comes to the vaccine distribution [so that] everybody understands what we’re doing there and what the plan is for the future.”

Trump: Biden 'won because the election was rigged'

Trump seems to have implicitly conceded defeat to Joe Biden while claims the election was rigged.

Former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton also told ABC that Republican voters are “not stupid” and someone should explain Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election to them.

“I think it's very important for leaders in the Republican Party to explain to our voters, who are not as stupid as the Democrats think, that, in fact, Trump has lost the election and that his claims of election fraud are baseless,” Bolton said. “The fact is that we've seen litigation in all the key battleground states, and it has failed consistently,” he added. “Right now, the Trump campaign is doing the legal equivalent of pinching pennies."

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