Although it took days for experts to call the presidential election for Joe Biden, many Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump say media outlets are jumping the gun, as counting continues in several states.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C. 10th District), said every election has a process and until it has been seen through, a winner should not be declared in the race for the White House. He went on to explain the process of states undergoing a canvas of results after the ballots are counted.
"Once we have that canvas and we have a certification of the election, then we'll know," McHenry told Cheddar.
"At the end of this process, I want the American people to know their president was duly and officially and legally elected president."
While Americans await the final word from both election officials and courts where the president has filed lawsuits questioning the validity of the vote counting process, McHenry acknowledged that the final outcome will likely stay in favor of Biden.
Even as Trump appears to have lost the election, the Republican party was able to garner support it had not seen in previous years with more than 70 million Americans turning out to vote for the president and drawing in additional votes further down the ballot. The GOP was able to pick up five seats in the House of Representatives with at least one runoff set to take place, a move McHenry attributes to Republicans "staying focused on the issues."
"America did not vote for a woke leftist coalition to govern. That's not where the American people are," he added.
"We stayed focused on economic concerns and what life is like after the virus. We focused on reforms that we delivered, and focused on the middle class."
McHenry was among those Republican candidates to retain his seat in the House.
As COVID-19 surges at rates that surpass the peak of U.S. cases earlier this year, stimulus talks are swirling now that the election has ended. McHenry welcomes a deal but said it will likely be a much less comprehensive package than the "$3 trillion of left-wing ideology."
"[Pelosi] does have a weak hand. She should have come to terms with the White House in July for another COVID package, but she played politics. And now she has fewer Democrats going into the House than are in the current House," the congressman claimed.
