MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Friday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to intervene and tell President Trump to concede defeat to Democratic rival Joseph R. Biden.
Mr. Scarborough, a former GOP congressman, appealed directly to Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, during his “Morning Joe” cable program and pushed him to ensure the presidential transition process moves forward.
Republicans who alleged Mr. Trump lost the race because of fraud were originally given the benefit of the doubt, but they have presented no proof and should move on, Mr. Scarborough said.
“Mitch McConnell knows,” he said. “The legal challenges have all failed. They’re going to fail. There is no way forward for this president.”
Mr. Scarborough added Republicans led by Mr. McConnell are doing “everything they can do to undermine the integrity of our voting process” by enabling or advancing unproven claims of election fraud.
“The question, Mitch, is how much longer are you going to hold American democracy in suspended animation?” he asked. “How much longer are you going to undermine what really does lay at the heart of American democracy, and that is the peaceful transfer of power?”
Mr. Scarborough added that further refusal on the part of Mr. McConnell to act will result in historians depicting him someday as being “ensnarled in a conspiracy to undermine American democracy.”
“It’s what makes this so sick, Mitch,” said Mr. Scarborough. “This isn’t about undermining Americans’ faith in Joe Biden, one man, one party. It’s about undermining America’s faith in democracy. In the rule of law. And that’s what you’re doing right now. The gig is up.”
Preliminary results of the presidential race show Mr. Biden beat Mr. Trump, as projected by virtually all major polls. The president has not conceded and is challenging the outcome in court, however.
Mr. Scarborough added that Mr. McConnell needs to tell Mr. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, “to stop making fools of themselves” and let Mr. Biden prepare for the presidency.
“We are way past time,” Mr. Scarborough said. “Enough, Mitch. Enough.”
Mr. Scarborough, 57, represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 1995 to 2001. He started his cable TV career two years later.
A message requesting comment from Mr. McConnell’s office was not immediately returned.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.