As the country awaits final results of the presidential election, Republican Gov. Phil Scott said Friday that every vote must be counted and that officials throughout the U.S. knew that it would take time to see a result in a year turned upside down by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It appears we’re getting closer to knowing the results of the presidential election,” Scott said Friday. “I want to be very clear. Every single legal vote should be counted and verified. Mail-in ballots are legal votes.”
Scott was the only Republican governor in the U.S. who publicly voted for Biden. He waited to announce his decision until after casting his vote in person on Tuesday.
Scott’s comments come as former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump is beginning to take shape.
This morning, Biden overtook Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and those leads are expected to grow throughout the day.
If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he would have more than the 270 electoral votes needed to become the next president. Early Friday morning, Biden led Trump with 3,295,304 to 3,289,717 with around 130,000 left to be counted.
Decision Desk HQ, a respected election forecast service, called Pennsylvania for Biden at 8:50 a.m. The Associated Press, the New York Times, and other news outlets have still not called the race for Biden.
The AP has Biden at 264 electoral college votes to Trump’s 214 with the Democratic candidate leading in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.
Biden and other Democratic leaders have repeatedly preached patience as states continue to count absentee and mailed-in ballots.
On Thursday morning, the president tweeted “STOP THE COUNT,” and then in the evening he held a press conference claiming that he had “decisively won” many states “despite historic election interference from Big Media, Big Money, and Big Tech.”
The president’s sons have also criticized members of the GOP for not joining Trump’s call to end the vote tallying process.
On Thursday night on Fox News, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., coalesced behind Trump and his unfounded claims of a rigged election.
“President Trump won this election, so everyone who’s listening, do not be quiet,” McCarthy said. “We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes.”
Scott, who has been a critic of Trump, on Friday echoed the words of former Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Ridge.
“The president disrespected every single American who figured out a way to safely vote amidst the pandemic,” Scott, repeating a statement Ridge released Thursday night.
“Absolutely shameful,” Scott said.
