MORGANTOWN — Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday said he doesn’t yet acknowledge that former Vice-President Joe Biden is president-elect.
The statement came in reply to a question raised during his COVID-19 briefing about areas of Biden’s COVID plan he may disagree with.
Justice said there are things President Trump did that he wouldn’t have, and probably vice-versa. He agrees with Biden on such things as mask wearing and expansive testing.
“This is not a bias because of how I feel about our president, but as far as acknowledging the election is over, I do not do that,” he said. He wants to know that the votes that were cast were legal and that the process was sound.
He doesn’t want to walk away and say the election was rigged, he said. “And I hope to goodness Joe Biden doesn’t want that.”
Trump is contesting in court election results in several sates, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. So far, none of his campaign’s cases are faring well though nothing is yet resolved. (In 2000, Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Al Gore conceded losing to George W. Bush on Dec. 13 after the court fight over Florida’s results was settled in Bush’s favor.)
In this instance, Justice said, resolution could be weeks away. “When we get to that conclusion, if Joe Biden is truly our elected president, I will support him with all of my soul,” and all America should celebrate.
No American should want to say the election way rigged, Justice said. “We’re not a banana republic we’re the United States of America. … Today we have a lot of doubt in our mind and we need to get to the bottom of it.”
The Associated Press estimates the current electoral vote count at 290 for Biden (with 270 needed to win) and 217 for Trump. AP’s projection for swing states gives Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to Biden; North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Texas to Trump.
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