One week after revealing he left his ballot blank rather than vote for President Trump, Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker says it’s time for the White House to accept defeat.
At his COVID-19 briefing Tuesday, Baker paused to criticize the move by Attorney General Bill Barr to greenlight Department of Justice investigations into Trump’s unfounded voter fraud claims.
"I've been a Republican for 40 years. I've raised money for Republican candidates. I've knocked doors for Republican candidates. I've answered and made phone calls for Republican candidates," Baker said. "But this latest move, to deploy the Department of Justice in all of this, is so wildly inappropriate. And stalling an orderly transition process, especially at a time like this, is equally unacceptable."
Baker says if the Trump campaign has legitimate legal challenges to the election, they should be brought forward immediately.
"I'm aware of no legitimate claims of wrongdoing anywhere near the scale it would take to effect this outcome, and there's credible third-party entity that has verified the president's claims in any way. Continuing to make these claims erodes trust in the system when in fact the election system is working exactly as it was designed to do," Baker said.
"Orderly transitions of power are good for the country. They're good for the American people. There's simply no question on this," Baker added. "What this president is doing at this point in time is not in the best interests of this country. The administration needs to move forward and cooperate with the president-elect's transition team immediately."
