Biden Calls Trump’s Refusal To Concede ‘An Embarrassment’

President-elect Joe Biden has described Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in the US election as ’an embarrassment’.

The Democrat has insisted he will be taking over the White House in January, whether Trump concedes or not.

‘I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,’ Biden told journalists in Delaware at the weekend.

‘The only thing that – how can I say this tactfully – I think it will not help is the president’s legacy,’ he said.

Biden added:

At the end of the day, you know, it’s all going to come to fruition on January 20.

When asked whether he had spoken to Trump since US media outlets called the election in Biden’s favour, the 77-year-old said he’s yet to receive the traditional phone call from the incumbent president.

‘Mr President, I look forward to speaking with you,’ he joked.

Ordinarily, the president-elect would receive a congratulatory phone call from the president once the result of a US election is announced. However, Trump has refused to concede the election, and has already mounted several legal challenges in key swing states that have been claimed by the Democratic Party.

As both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepare to take office in just two months, Trump’s team have been stalling the takeover, with the General Services Administration (GSA) – which is tasked with handling funding and access to federal agencies for incoming administrations – yet to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect. This has meant the transition team has not received the $9.9 million federal funding required for the handover.

The GSA says its administrator ‘ascertains the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid out in the Constitution’.

Despite all of this, Biden said their transition plans will continue, ‘in a consistent manner’.

‘We are going to be moving along in a consistent manner, putting our administration together in the White House, reviewing who we’re going to pick for our cabinet positions, and nothing is going to stop that,’ he said, as per Metro.

‘We are already beginning the transition, we’re well underway. [Trump’s refusal to concede] does not change the dynamic in what we’re able to do,’ he explained.

While it has not been officially called yet, every major news outlet has called Biden as the president-elect after he managed to win one of the key swing states, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, November 7.

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