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Six weeks after the US presidential election, the influential US Republican majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, recognized Democrat Joe Biden as the winner.
“The electoral council has spoken.
So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden, ”said McConnell in the US Senate on Tuesday.
McConnell is considered a close confidante of incumbent President Donald Trump.
McConnell's recognition of Biden's election victory is particularly significant because his party colleague Trump still refuses to publicly acknowledge the outcome of the election and his defeat.
So far, few Republicans in the US Congress had publicly congratulated Biden on his victory.
On Monday, the 538 electorate in the 50 US states and the Washington capital district cast their votes for the future president on behalf of the people.
Biden's victory is now official.
Americans choose their president indirectly.
In the vast majority of states, the candidate who received the majority of votes from the people on election day also receives all of the votes from the electorate there.
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The voting of the electorate is a formality in normal election years because the losing candidate usually admits his defeat on election night.
Trump continues to portray himself as a victim of massive election fraud, for which there is no evidence.
The final results of the election will be officially announced in Congress in Washington on January 6th.
Biden is due to be sworn in on January 20th.
On that day, Trump's constitutional term ends automatically - even if he does not admit defeat.
That Biden won has been clear since November 7th, when leading US media proclaimed him the winner.
The relevant US authorities declared the choice to be the safest ever in the US.