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Biden said he doesn't need Trump's help to take over the presidency, as the White House continues to block a transition

Nov 11, 2020, 17:25 IST
Business Insider
President-elect Joe Biden answers questions from the press in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday.Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
  • President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he doesn't need President Donald Trump's co-operation to take over as president.
  • Biden has launched his transition and has been making announcements, even though Trump has not conceded and continues, without evidence, to dispute the election results.
  • The government has a formal process for transitions, but so far it is being held up, denying Biden resources and information.
  • Biden said that this help would be "useful," but not necessary for his preparation: "We don't see anything that's slowing us down, quite frankly."
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President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he doesn't need President Donald Trump's help to prepare to take over as president.

Trump has refused to concede to Biden, despite Biden having won the electoral college votes needed to win the presidency last week.

Trump has instead disputed the election results, promoting baseless claims about widespread voter fraud and launching more than a dozen legal challenges in battleground states.

As Business Insider's Jake Lahut previously reported, Trump's refusal means that Biden has so far been denied access to basic transition materials like funding, office space, classified information, and security clearances.

But Biden said on Tuesday that not having the access "does not change the dynamic at all of what we're able to do."

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"We don't see anything that's slowing us down, quite frankly."

Joe Biden.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

"We're already beginning the transition," he said. "We're well underway."

Biden has taken steps to assert himself, including appointing a transition team, a coronavirus task force, and holding calls with world leaders, many of whom acknowledged his victory of the weekend.

"We're going to be moving along in a consistent manner putting together our administration, our White House, reviewing who we're going to pick for Cabinet positions, and nothing's going to stop it."

Presidents-elect usually receive classified intelligence briefings as part of the transition. Biden has not, but said: "Access to classified information is useful, but I'm not in a position to make any decisions on these issues anyway. It would be nice to have it but it's not critical."

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Axios reported on Tuesday that Biden's transition team is weighing legal action if the transition processes do not begin. However, at the press conference, Biden he did not "see a need for legal action."

Biden is due to be sworn in as president in January 2021, after the transition period.

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