The Consequences Of Election Denialism
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2020
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
In the short term, the Biden transition team cannot access certain government funds, use office space or receive classified intelligence briefings without official recognition of Biden's victory from a government agency called the General Services Administration. NPR's Brian Naylor has reported on the delay.
At the Department of Justice, the top prosecutor in charge of election crimes, Richard Pilger, resigned from his position this week. A former DOJ colleague of Pilger's, Justin Levitt, tells NPR that the department is enabling the president's baseless claims of widespread election fraud.
And Washington Post columnist David Ignatius explains what might be happening at the Department of Defense, where Trump's election denialism has coincided with a number of high-level firings and a debate over the release of classified information.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might have been joking, but no one laughed. |
| 0:05.6 | There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. |
| 0:09.9 | All right, we're ready. |
| 0:11.9 | Pompeo cracked a smile when he said it in a briefing on Tuesday. |
| 0:15.8 | He was replying to a reporter's question about whether the State Department is preparing |
| 0:19.6 | to work with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team. |
| 0:24.0 | Pompeo also said this. |
| 0:25.7 | The world should have every confidence that the transition is necessary to make sure that |
| 0:29.1 | the State Department is functional today, successful today, and successful with the |
| 0:33.6 | President who's in office on January 20th, a minute afternoon, will also be successful. |
| 0:39.8 | And later, when Fox News asked Pompeo if he was serious, he wouldn't say. |
| 0:45.4 | Whether he was joking or not, Pompeo is the country's top diplomat. |
| 0:49.8 | His words have consequences. |
| 0:51.9 | And other Republicans have sounded a lot more serious about denying the outcome of this |
| 0:56.6 | election. |
| 0:57.6 | Number one, this is a contested election. |
| 0:59.7 | The media doesn't decide who becomes President. |
| 1:02.2 | Like South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. |
| 1:04.5 | President Trump should not concede. |
| 1:06.3 | Or Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. |
| 1:08.3 | You know, the President wasn't defeated by huge numbers. |
| 1:13.6 | In fact, he may not have been defeated at all. |
... |
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