US Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell says President Donald Trump has every right “to look into allegations and request recounts”.
He stated this Monday on the Senate floor, adding that he would not recognise projected winner, Joe Biden as president-elect until the process was completed.
The Kentucky Senator also berated the “wealthy media corporations” for overt bias against Trump.
McConnell said, “In the United States of America, all legal ballots must be counted. Any illegal ballots must not be counted. The process must be transparent or observable by all sides, and the courts are here to work through concerns.
“Our institutions are actually built for this. We have the system in place to consider concerns, and President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.
“And notably, the Constitution gives no role in this process to wealthy media corporations. The projections and commentary of the press do not get veto power over the legal rights of any citizen, including the president.”
The 78-year-old McConnell joins a growing number of Republican senators to withhold acceptance of Biden and nudge Trump on until the final finish line.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina had earlier urged the president not to concede defeat until all the legal votes were counted and legal issues resolved.
As of Monday afternoon, only four Republican senators — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) — had congratulated Biden on his projected victory, Axios reported.
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