Pennsylvania’s Patrick Toomey has become the fifth Republican Senator to break rank with President Donald Trump by congratulating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Toomey acknowledged the pair as president-elect and vice president-elect in a statement after Trump’s latest legal set back in Pennsylvania, as he continues to claim foul play facilitated the Democrat ticket’s election success.
“With today’s decision by Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist, to dismiss the Trump campaign’s lawsuit, President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania,” Toomey said in a statement Saturday, though the Trump campaign is due to push its case on in higher courts.
He went on to mention other set backs for the Trump campaign in its push against the results in several states, before moving on to his message regarding the Democrats’ victory in the race for the White House.
“I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory. They are both dedicated public servants and I will be praying for them and for our country,” he said, before acknowledging he would have “significant policy disagreements,” with Biden.
He went on to express being “deeply disappointed” at Trump’s defeat, commenting on points such as tax actions, work in the Middle East and COVID-19 vaccine program Operation Warp Speed as markers of achievement in his presidency.
“To ensure that he is remembered for these outstanding accomplishments, and to help unify our country, President Trump should accept the outcome of the election and facilitate the presidential transition process,” Toomey concluded.
He joins Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in congratulating Biden and Harris.
The pushback in Pennsylvania comes District Judge Matthew W. Brann granted the state’s request to dismiss the Trump campaign lawsuit alleging Republican voters were illegally handicapped due to counties in the state having allowed voters to amend errors on mail-in ballots. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the ruling would help in the “strategy to get expeditiously to the U.S. Supreme Court,” as he spoke of pursuing the matter further through the courts system.
Newsweek has contacted Toomey for further comment and the Trump campaign for comment in regard to his statement.
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