Don’t wave the white flag: Republicans urge Trump not to concede election amid count
Republican allies of President Donald Trump said Friday he should not concede the election while votes are still being counted, but they shied away from repeating his allegations of widespread fraud.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said there is no conversation among conservatives about the president conceding before the counting of legitimate ballots is fully completed so Americans can have confidence in the electoral process.
Until every question about potential irregularities is answered, conservatives want the president to hold the line, he told McClatchy.
“There’s no interest in him doing it until there’s certainty that that’s the outcome of the election,” Perkins said. “Conservatives, they’re not ready for the president to wave a white flag, not until they’re certain that this election was done appropriately and we know for certain who the winner is.”
The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit in Georgia, where state officials said a recount will occur. And also in Michigan and Pennsylvania, where campaign officials argued that poll watchers did not have adequate access to vote counting locations.
Poll watchers were always allowed in Pennsylvania, but they were required to stand 20 feet away from ballot counting in Philadelphia. Trump’s campaign sued and had the perimeter successfully reduced to 6 feet, which accounts for social distancing.
Trump’s general counsel in a Friday statement alleged that thousands of people improperly cast mail ballots in Nevada, setting the stage for another legal fight.
“That’s the process. And until the process has run its course, I don’t think the vast majority of the conservatives who support the president want to see him surrender,” Perkins said. “We would not want to see him to concede until we know the outcome of the election.”
Perkins noted that each state has its own election system, and state legislatures are tasked with setting the electors for the Electoral College. Those electors do not vote until Dec. 14.
He argued that there is a precedent for Trump to wait to concede, noting that Democrat Al Gore did not finally concede in 2000 until after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount in Florida. Gore conceded in a Dec.13 speech.
Gore had initially conceded in the early morning hours after Election Day, but then called George W. Bush shortly afterward to tell him he had changed his mind.
Making note of the Bush v. Gore court case, Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who advises Trump, said even if the president were to concede, it is an informal action that he could always reverse if he pulls ahead in a given state based on updated vote totals.
“It wouldn’t matter if he conceded, because if all of a sudden they found that Trump had won these states,” Moore said, “he would unconcede. And so all that matters is who’s won the majority of votes.”
A concession would mainly mean that Trump would stop legal action, he said. “A concession would mean, I’m not going to take this to court — at this stage, we’re not going to have recounts.”
Moore said Trump should not concede until every vote is counted, including military overseas and mail-in ballots that were turned in last, because those may support Trump. That process could take several more days.
“There’s no reason for Trump to concede until we are sure that Biden has won, and we just don’t know that,” Moore said of his advice to the White House about how to proceed. “There’s still a chance,” he added.
Trump still has a path to victory based on the states that have not been called yet, Moore said. “I don’t think we’re at a point where people are throwing in the towel,yet,” he said of White House officials.
Other conservatives said Friday that they supported Trump’s efforts to have the election results verified. But they did not echo his unproven allegations that there is “tremendous corruption and fraud going on.”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said of a possible concession,”No one I know says he should. Regardless of odds.”
Much of the Washington Republican establishment was being careful with comments reacting to Trump’s allegations and supportive of letting the vote-counting process proceed. There were few echoes of Trump’s allegations. And there was little talk of asking him to concede.
Some were clearly appalled at Trump’s allegations.
“By alleging widespread fraud, President Trump’s purpose is to undermine Americans’ belief in the legitimacy of the election and therefore in the foundation of our democracy. He is causing incalculable damage to our country,” said former Sen. John Danforth, a Missouri Republican who has a history of criticizing Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at a news conference in Kentucky would not discuss in any detail his views on what Trump should do. He started the event by citing a tweet he sent out earlier in the day, and referred to it again several times when reporters asked him about the election.
“Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted. Any illegally-submitted ballots must not,” the tweet said. “All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes. That’s how Americans’ votes decide the result.”
Reporters pressed him as to what he thinks should happen. “I’m not going to answer any hypotheticals about where we go from here,” he said.
The inauguration for the next president is being planned now by a joint congressional committee headed by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. His measured view was typical of many other GOP lawmakers.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to allow the president to wait for that number to be apparent. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable for Vice President Biden to accept the unofficial result and do whatever he thinks he should do,” said Blunt, a former Missouri secretary of state.
He said he understood Trump’s reluctance to concede.
“This is not a new position for a candidate to take,” Blunt said. “I think it’s reasonable that the president would want to see the process work out now and see the actual canvass of votes.”
Asked if he suspected widespread fraud, Blunt said some fraud was hardly unusual in an election. So are uncounted absentee ballots. “I think the president should turn this discussion over to his lawyers,” he said.
Other Republicans had similar views.
“I support President Trump as he stands his ground to demand that all votes cast lawfully in the presidential contest are vetted fairly and legally,” said Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. “ We, the American people, will certainly accept an outcome reached in an open and legitimate process, which is what I believe the president is trying to ensure.”
Kansas City Star reporter Bryan Lowry contributed reporting.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Don’t wave the white flag: Republicans urge Trump not to concede election amid count."
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