HARTFORD—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday joined U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to call on President Trump to accept the free and fair election results and concede the presidential race to President-elect Joe Biden. Murphy and Blumenthal talked about how the president’s refusal to concede and begin the process of a peaceful transfer of power impacts the ability of the incoming Biden administration to address pressing challenges on national security and the COVID-19 pandemic. The senators also responded to the steam explosion at the West Haven VA, which killed two people Friday morning.

On the explosion that killed two at the West Haven VA Friday morning, Murphy said: “Our hearts go out to those that have been affected. We know now, confirmed by the VA, that there have been two deaths and our hearts are very heavy today for those lives that have been lost. We're going to be doing everything we can to work with the VA to make sure those families are taken care of, to make sure that others that have been injured or affected are cared for, and to make sure that the VA community, which has experienced a loss today, has everything that they need as well.”

On President Trump’s failure to concede, Murphy said: “President-elect Biden won the election. There's no question about it. And we need to get going with this transition. President Trump may never concede. He may be interested in creating a grudge culture that powers his political movement for years. But the Constitution is the Constitution, and it says that there will be an orderly transition from one administration to the next.”

Murphy also highlighted the urgent need to begin the transition so that President-elect Biden will be able to address the raging COVID-19 pandemic: “This virus is expanding. This virus is on the march at a pace that we have not yet seen in 2020. And that commands us to make sure that President-elect Biden is ready, on day one, to chart a new strategy on COVID response. Every day that President-Elect Biden isn't allowed to have his people at HHS, at CDC, at NIH is another day that we lose in terms of making sure that President-elect Biden is ready to go on day one to beat this virus.

 A full transcript of Murphy’s opening remarks can be found below:

“Good morning, everybody. Thanks for being here on a cold, rainy day. Senator Blumenthal and I want to offer a few remarks, both on the tragedy this morning in West Haven –– but also on the ongoing transition.

“First, let me say that we've been in touch with the VA this morning. I think both Senator Blumenthal and I have offered our assistance in any way that we can. Our hearts go out to those that have been affected. We know now, confirmed by the VA, that there have been two deaths, and our hearts are very heavy today for those lives that have been lost.

“We're going to be doing everything we can to work with the VA to make sure those families are taken care of. To make sure that others that have been injured or affected are cared for, and to make sure that the VA community, which has experienced a loss today, has everything that they need as well. 

“We are here today as well to talk about the ongoing transition. President Biden won the election –– President-elect Biden won the election. There's no question about it. And we need to get going with this transition. President Trump may never concede. He may be interested in creating a grudge culture that powers his political movement for years. But the constitution is the constitution, and it says that there will be an orderly transition from one administration to the next.

“The United States is unique. We don't have kings or monarchs. We have regular transitions from one leader to the next. And so it's important that those transitions are as seamless as possible, because it is normally during transitions of power that countries can face vulnerabilities. That adversaries can attempt to take actions detrimental to the nation undergoing that transition. 

“Every day that President Trump doesn't allow for this transition to happen is a day that America is vulnerable from a national security perspective. But this pandemic is raging largely out of control and unchecked in many parts of this country. It took us 96 days to go from zero cases to a million cases. It took us 14 days to go from 8 million cases to 9 million cases. It took us 10 days to go from 9 million cases to 10 million cases in this country.

“This virus is expanding. This virus is on the march at a pace that we have not yet seen in 2020. And that commands us to make sure that President-elect Biden is ready, on day one, to chart a new strategy on COVID response. Every day that President-elect Biden isn't allowed to have his people at HHS, at CDC, at NIH is another day that we lose in terms of making sure that President-elect Biden is ready to go on day one to beat this virus.

“President Trump has given up on fighting coronavirus. He's in full denial, even as this crisis expands on a daily basis, even as the infection rages inside the White House, even as news breaks today that 130 Secret Service officers have COVID. And so given President Trump's complete disinterest in fighting the pandemic in November and December, the final two months of his term, it's that much more important that he begin to hand over the keys to President-elect Biden.

“But it's also important from a broader national security perspective. You know, I watch China and Russia very carefully. They are certainly contemplating taking aggressive actions in Ukraine, or Hong Kong, or Taiwan, knowing that President Trump is distracted right now, knowing that there are brand new hands on deck at the Department of Defense, and knowing that President-elect Biden might have trouble standing up a national security apparatus if he doesn't get the keys to the White House until after his swearing-in.

“So from a national security perspective, it's really important that Vice President Biden start getting these briefings, start being able to have his people inside the Department of Defense and inside the National Security Council so that he's ready to protect America on day one, as well. So we are gonna be increasing our pressure on the GSA and on our Republican colleagues to let this transition begin.

“There's nothing stopping Congress from passing legislation that could overcome a veto requiring GSA to begin the transition. If my Republican colleagues who are beginning to talk about the importance of this transition beginning are serious, then they should put their votes where their words are. We don't have to stand by and let President Trump assault democracy like this. 

“There's no path to stay in power for Donald Trump. He didn't win. He lost by a big margin. There was no widespread voter fraud. When the electoral college meets, they are going to choose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States and Donald Trump will leave the White House on swearing-in day one way or another. But every day that this transition stalls is another day that COVID wins –– and it's another day that our adversaries have opportunity to take advantage of this very, very messy transition. So with that, let me turn it over to Senator Blumenthal.”

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