Joe Biden has said Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the race for the White House is “an embarrassment”.
The Democrat US president-elect insisted nothing would stop the transfer of power.
Republican President Mr Trump meanwhile claimed that he would ultimately win the election after legal challenges, despite losing to Mr Biden.
Mr Biden was asked by a reporter in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday what he thought of Mr Trump’s refusal to acknowledge defeat.
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Mr Biden, said. “I think it will not help the president’s legacy.”
Referring to inauguration day, he said: “At the end of the day… it’s all going to come to fruition on January 20.”
Raising unsupported claims of voter fraud, President Trump reportedly blocked his Mr Biden from receiving the intelligence briefings traditionally shared with incoming presidents.
President Trump’s resistance, backed by senior Republicans, could also prevent background investigations and security clearances for Mr Biden’s prospective national security team.
Mr Biden downplayed the impact of the Republican resistance, which he said “does not change the dynamic at all in what we’re able to do”.
Additional intelligence briefings “would be useful”, Mr Biden said, but “we don’t see anything slowing us down, quite frankly”.
President Trump and his allies seem determined to make Mr Biden’s transition as difficult as possible.
President Trump has repeated unsupported claims of “massive ballot counting abuse” and predicted he would ultimately win the race he has already lost.
His allies on Capitol Hill, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have encouraged the president’s baseless accusations.
President Trump’s tweets were swiftly flagged by the social media network as claims about election fraud that are disputed.
Attorney General William Barr has authorised the Justice Department to probe unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.
And the General Services Administration, led by a Trump-appointed administrator, Emily Murphy, has declined to formally recognise Mr Biden as president-elect.
That designation eases cooperation between the outgoing and incoming administrations, although Ms Murphy has not started the process and has given no guidance on when she will.
EVENING STANDARD
