Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is “flat-out wrong” for encouraging Joseph R. Biden not to concede the 2020 race against President Trump.
“I disagree with Hillary Clinton,” the Illinois Democrat told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “I respect her, I like her, but I think she’s just flat-out wrong.”
Mrs. Clinton raised eyebrows last month after she said Mr. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, should not concede the November election “under any circumstances” because of the Republican Party’s attempts to “mess up” mail-in voting.
“We’ve got to have a massive legal operation — I know the Biden campaign is working on that,” the former secretary of state said during an Aug. 24 interview on Showtime’s “The Circus.”
“We have to have poll workers, and I urge people who are able to be a poll worker,” she said. “We have to have our own teams of people to counter the force of intimidation that the Republicans and Trump are going to put outside polling places. This is a big organizational challenge, but at least we know more about what they’re going to do. And Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances because I think this is going to drag out and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is.”
During his interview Sunday, Mr. Durbin was asked to weigh in on Republicans drawing “a moral equivalence” between Mrs. Clinton’s comments and Mr. Trump refusing to commit to a peaceful transferral of power if Mr. Biden wins the election.
“The election itself is going to be announced,” Mr. Durbin responded. “The winner will be announced. It will take longer with all the paper ballots that are being cast, but at some point I hope my choice Joe Biden is elected president.
“But if we are going to maintain a democracy, peaceful transition through an election is the only way to do it,” he added. “Just look at the streets of Belarus today if you want to see the alternative. We don’t need that in America. Whoever the winner is, if it’s clear and legal, the other party should concede.”
“I think she’s flat out wrong,” Sen. Durbin tells @GStephanopoulos on Hillary Clinton saying Biden “should not concede under any circumstances.”
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 27, 2020
“If we are going to maintain a democracy, peaceful transition through an election is the only way to do it.” https://t.co/AUNNIdZBsH pic.twitter.com/ySiNUGP6I3
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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