Klain Says Biden Has Spoken to Republican Lawmakers, Governors
Klain Says Biden Has Spoken to Republican Lawmakers, Governors
(Bloomberg) -- Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s chief of staff, said Thursday that the president-elect has spoken with some Republican officials in recent days, but not with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Joe Biden has spoken to Republicans, some Republican senators, Republican governors,” Klain said in an interview on MSNBC, his first since Biden announced Wednesday that his longtime aide would lead his White House staff. “But he has not spoken to Senator McConnell.”
Klain declined to say who Biden had talked to, suggesting that some Republicans might have wanted their names kept under wraps.
“I’m not naming names because we read out the calls when we read out the calls, when both sides agree to read out the calls. And he’s having private conversations with individuals,” Klain said.
President Donald Trump continues to contest the results of the Nov. 3 election and few elected Republicans have spoken out against him, even as Biden has established himself as the winner of the vote, an outcome that is unlikely to be overturned through recounts or court challenges.
With Republicans likely to keep a majority in the Senate, McConnell would play a central role as Biden tries to push his nominations and policies through Congress. McConnell has said Trump is “within his rights” to contest Biden’s victory.
“Senator McConnell seems to be insisting — somehow — that President Trump won. He didn’t,” Klain said.
In time, though, Klain, a former Senate staffer to Biden, said he expects the two men to talk and to be able to work together.
“There will be a time and place for Joe Biden and Senator McConnell to talk,” he said. “They obviously need no introduction to one another. They have worked together. They have fought each other, worked together and fought each other over the decades. They’ll have a working relationship when the time comes.”
Klain also said that the General Service Administration’s refusal to grant Biden access to federal government resources is keeping the president-elect’s team from taking part in the planning for the distribution of coronavirus vaccines.
“The sooner we can get our transition experts into meetings with the folks who are planning the vaccination campaign, the more seamless the transition,” Klain said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.