A top Tennessee House Democrat on Wednesday sharply criticized Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s refusal to acknowledge Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 presidential election, charging the governor’s “bogus claims” about uncertainty are “undermining an entire electoral process.”
“Assuming that Gov. Lee is just not basing his decision on some crazy political delusion, he needs to explain to the press today why he is not recognizing Joe Biden as victorious,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Stewart of Nashville told reporters during a video news conference.
Stewart called it “essential that the people understand that we politicians respect their votes and we respect the results of elections.”
On Tuesday, Lee told reporters it’s “not clear” yet who won the presidential election in which Biden won an apparently decisive presidential victory. The Associated Press and other news organizations have projected there is no way mathematically for ongoing vote counting and certification to reverse the result.
Trump, who has refused to concede, has questioned the integrity of mail-in ballots in several key states. And the president is now waging legal battles in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and elsewhere over the validity of some mail-in ballots, access for his supporters to watch ballot counting and other issues.