Colorado Republicans in Congress remained mum Monday about whether President Donald Trump should concede the presidential election to Joe Biden, a day after the state’s most recent Republican governor called on the Republican president to do so.
In the nearly three weeks since Biden defeated Trump, none of the state’s four congressional Republicans have acknowledged Trump’s defeat or signaled support for his wild claims of widespread election fraud. On Monday, spokespeople for the four declined to comment when asked if Trump should concede.
On Sunday, former Gov. Bill Owens, the only Republican to lead Colorado in the past 45 years, wrote on Facebook that the election is over. Contrary to Trump’s claims of election fraud, Owens said, America’s election systems performed “remarkably well” considering this year’s pandemic and record-high turnout.
“For the good of the country and our democracy, President Trump needs to respect the will of the voters, accede to the wishes of the electorate, and help prepare the way for the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden,” he wrote. “And — no matter our own personal political views — we should, as Americans, do the same.”
The former governor, who was in office from 1999 to 2007, told of how he prepared two speeches for election night in 1998, one in case of victory and another written in preparation for defeat. He won by 8,297 votes, less than one percentage point.
“It turned out I had the good fortune to give the former (speech) but I was fully prepared — had the voters so decided — to give the latter,” Owens said, calling on Trump to now do the same.
During an interview with the ultra-conservative One America News Network on Friday, Rep. Ken Buck, a Windsor Republican who chairs the Colorado GOP, spoke of a hypothetical Biden administration without conceding the Democrat has won. Late last week, he told the Colorado Sun he is awaiting results of the Trump campaign’s lawsuits but doesn’t have knowledge of widespread fraud.
When asked Monday whether Buck believes the president should concede, a Buck spokeswoman pointed to a statement he made last week about Trump’s right to litigate his allegations of election fraud in court until Dec. 14, when the Electoral College meets to certify the results of the presidential election.
The president’s campaign has lost repeatedly in court and failed to present evidence to back up accusations of massive, widespread fraud and a stolen election. As a result, some Republicans in Congress have called for the president to concede. The four from Colorado have not.
Sen. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican who conceded his own loss Nov. 3, did not respond to a request for comment sent to his spokeswoman. Last week, Gardner complained when a Capitol Hill reporter asked if Biden is the president-elect.
“You’re going to play gotcha questions with me? You guys, just come on. I’m not going to play your gotcha questions. I’m not going to play your games. I’m tired of it,” Gardner said then.
Spokespersons for Rep. Scott Tipton, a Cortez Republican, and Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, also did not respond to emailed questions.
Congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert, a Rifle Republican who upset Tipton in the primary, has echoed the president’s claims of fraud in recent weeks. On Saturday, she said on Twitter that “President Trump still has time to turn this around and get the real results out.”
“This is no time to be demoralized or give up,” she told fellow Trump supporters on the social media site Thursday. “Our founders fought relentlessly for our freedom…and we are in a battle for it once again. Remember, we will win!”
