Both former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) were among the first Republicans to congratulate Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Saturday upon news that establishment media projected him to win the presidency.
“Congratulations to President-elect Biden,” said Bush. “I have prayed for our President most of my adult life. I will be praying for you and your success. Now is the time to heal deep wounds. Many are counting on you to lead the way.”
Bush, who had been favored to win the 2016 Republican primary, bore the brunt of then-candidate Donald Trump’s attacks, who dubbed him “low-energy” and repeatedly mocked him as he plummeted in the polls.
Congratulations to President-elect Biden. I have prayed for our President most of my adult life. I will be praying for you and your success. Now is the time to heal deep wounds. Many are counting on you to lead the way.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) November 7, 2020
Romney tweeted a similar reply, writing, “Ann and I extend our congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We know both of them as people of good will and admirable character. We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.”
Romney, who said he did not vote for Trump in 2020, also became one of his major adversaries. Trump often blasted the 2012 GOP nominee for failing to defeat former President Barack Obama, and the two continued to feud after Romney was elected as Utah’s junior senator in 2018. Romney became the sole Republican senator to vote in favor of convicting Trump for abuse of power during his 2019 impeachment trial.
Ann and I extend our congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We know both of them as people of good will and admirable character. We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 7, 2020
Romney also scolded Trump for claiming earlier in the week from the White House briefing room that the election was being stolen. Romney tweeted that it was “wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen.” He maintained that Trump’s claim “damages the cause of freedom here and around the world … and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions.”
The Trump campaign and its legal surrogates, by contrast, continue to assert that the election has yet to be decided.
Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the president, said in a statement to the The Daily Wire:
Media coordinated efforts are attempting to simply declare Joe Biden the president and ignore the rule of law. There is no official winner until every legal vote is counted accurately, the states certify results, and all legal challenges are resolved.
Biden plans to address the nation on Saturday night, saying in a statement:
I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.
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