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Trump’s national security adviser says Biden appears to have 'obviously' won election

Trump administration official says transition will happen because Democrat 'obviously’ looked like the winner

Gino Spocchia
Tuesday 17 November 2020 14:11 GMT
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Ohio Republican governor says president should begin transition to Biden on CNN

The United States’ national security advisor, Robert O'Brien, has said that Joe Biden “obviously” appeared to have won the 2020 presidential election.

"If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner, and obviously things look that way now, we'll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council," said O'Brien to the Global Security Forum on Monday.

Those comments moved Donald Trump’s administration one step closer to conceding the 3 November election, which the president has continued to deny the Democratic president-elect.

Mr Biden won the 2020 election more than a week ago, but has not been provided with access to federal assistance that typically comes with the presidential transition.

Mr Trump, who ended-up 74 electoral college points behind, has repeatedly refused to concede, and instead claimed he “won”.  

Mr O'Brien, however, told the Global Security Forum that he was committed to a smooth transition and was not concerned about the current stalemate.

“If there is a new administration, look, they deserve some time to come in and implement their policies,” he said.  

Those comments came as Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, also appeared to acknowledge a transition to a Biden administration.

He told a French newspaper, Le Figaro, that he was “entirely confident that the coming days and weeks [that] will show how much we are attached to the constitutional frame of this election".

"The transition process will work and honour our internal and external obligations," Mr Pompeo added.

A Trump campaign lawsuit was due to be heard in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, although the case has already been labelled “frivolous” by legal professionals.

The president’s other accusations about election “irregularities” have also been largely disproved, leading to pressure from Democrats and some GOP lawmakers for a concession in the coming days.

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