WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Joe Biden’s historic win Saturday as a “victory for the soul of the nation” — as Republicans in Congress greeted the news with radio silence.
“We kept the republic! Congratulations to Joe Biden on his victory for the soul of our country,” Pelosi wrote on Twitter after the Associated Press declared Biden the president-elect following a nail-biting, days-long count.
“Congratulations to Kamala Harris for making history. It’s a time to heal and a time to grow together. E Pluribus Unum,” she went on, signing off with the Latin phrase “Out of many, one.”
However, Republicans in Congress went mum, presumably assessing how to respond to the news that President Trump had lost — a decision which the commander-in-chief himself vowed to fight and refused to concede.
Republican leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Ky), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R. Calif) and powerful Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R. S.C) had no immediate messages of congratulations for the new president-elect.
McConnell’s last words on the election brawl countered Trump’s demands the vote count be stopped, calling for every legal vote to be considered.