Kayleigh McEnany STILL won't call Joe Biden president-elect because Donald Trump is pursuing 'ongoing litigation' and terms Electoral College result just 'one more step' in the process
White House press secretary briefed reporters Tuesday following the Electoral College meeting to make Joe Biden's win official – but still wouldn't call him 'president-elect' and gave no indication President Trump would concede.
She called the meeting of the Electoral College, where Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, 'one step in the constitutional process.'
She cited 'ongoing litigation' – a reference to the Trump campaing an allies filing dozens of lawsuits that have suffered more than 50 losses in court.
'Ongoing litigation': White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany would not call Joe Biden president-elect or indicate President Trump was ready to concede despite the meeting of the Electoral College
'The president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election. Yesterday's vote was one step in the constitutional process. I will leave that to him and refer you to the campaign for more on that litigation,' she said - dodging a direct question about whether Trump planned to invite Biden to the White House and acknowledged him as president-elect.
She repeated a version of that answer in response to multiple questions.
She said she wasn't sure whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had called Trump to give a head's up before McConnell for the first time congratulated Biden Tuesday morning and called him president-elect.
'I haven’t gotten the president’s reaction to that but the president again is pursuing ongoing litigation,' she said.
President-elect Joe Biden called Mitch McConnell to 'thank him for the congratulations' Tuesday
McEnany made long comments criticizing media coverage but declined to say Trump would invite his successor to the White House
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Biden 'president-elect' and acknowledged his victory for the first time publicly Tuesday
She directed questions about what possible legal recourse Trump has to the campaign, where she also has served as a spokesperson when not doing her taxpayer-funded job at the White House.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to take up a case filed by the Republican Texas attorney general seeking to throw out the result in four states.
Biden ripped the president in a prime-time speech Monday for refusing to accept the results after Biden bested him by 7 million votes in the popular vote and matched Trump's own 2016 306 electoral vote total.
'Respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy, even if we find those results hard to accept,' said Biden on the day the Electoral College met in state capitals across the nation
'Pursuing legitimate litigation through the judicial system is in no way assaulting democracy,' she said.
She then pivoted to the Mueller probe and called the investigations of Trump throughout his term an 'assault on democracy.'
Biden said in his Monday night speech: 'In America, when questions are raised about the legitimacy of any election, those questions are resolved through a legal process. And that is precisely what happened here. The Trump campaign brought dozens and dozens and dozens of legal challenges to test the results. They were heard. And they were found to be without merit,' said Biden.
'Respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy, even if we find those results hard to accept,' said Biden – alluding to Trump's refusal to concede or accept the results.
