Republican Governors Urge Trump To Accept Election Defeat, Start Biden Transition

Two more GOP officials have urged President Donald Trump to concede the election and begin the presidential transition process, as he continues to reject President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

On Sunday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said it was vital that the transition process begin amid Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud and attempts to block Biden's win in court.

“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,” DeWine said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“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,” he added.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he acknowledged President-elect Biden as the winner of the election. He also said the upcoming administration should be given access to classified materials and other resources needed during the transition period, Business Insider reported.

“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,” he continued.

The comments from DeWine and Hutchinson came hours after Trump tweeted that Biden “won,” only to backtrack soon after and claim that the Democrat “only won in the eyes of fake news media.”

Other GOP officials also have urged the president to concede. Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu both congratulated Biden as the election winner.

Former national security adviser John Bolton urged Republican leaders to explain Trump’s loss to GOP supporters and voters, The Hill reported.

“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.