South Dakota’s congressional delegation has not outright congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election.
One political scientist says all three of them have acknowledged his victory in less explicit ways.
That’s CNN host Chris Cuomo on Monday night, claiming that South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson backed out of the show after being told he would be asked about the results of the presidential election.
On November 23rd, Representative Johnson tweeted that he supports President Trump’s right to make his case in the courts.
He went on to say those “efforts have not been successful, and it’s time for the administration to begin the transition process.”
Johnson issued a response to Cuomo. He says, “I told Cuomo I didn’t want to discuss hyper-partisan issues because we have too much of that in our country right now. I told him I instead wanted to talk about our bipartisan efforts to move COVID relief forward, an effort that could benefit millions of Americans. His producers didn’t want to stick to the relief topic so we passed on the interview."
Johnson added, "I didn’t realize wanting to discuss bipartisanship was a sin in DC.“
In mid-November, Republican Senator John Thune said he believes Biden should have access to classified intelligence. He said that’s important from a national security standpoint.
Senator Mike Rounds echoed that sentiment.
Jon Schaff is a political scientist with Northern State University. He says they’ve all acknowledged Biden’s victory, but without saying it outright.
“Clearly, what’s going on there is politics,” Schaff says. “For good or for ill, the Trump team has made a point of still disputing the outcome of the election. As a Republican, obviously, there is a price to pay if one strays too far away from Donald Trump. You can stray away, it’s just a matter of how far can you stray away.”
Schaff says that allows for plausible deniability.
Schaff says Democrats did similar things following the 2000 and 2004 elections of George W. Bush. He also points to the 2016 election and the hashtag "NotMyPresident. "
On Monday, December 14th, presidential electors will cast their votes for the electoral college. According to the Associated Press, Joe Biden will receive 306 votes. Donald Trump will receive 232.
-Contact SDPB reporter Lee Strubinger by email.
