President-elect Joe Biden said outreach from the Trump administration has been “sincere,” since the General Services Administration ascertained his win on Monday.
GSA Chief Emily Murphy gave the OK for Biden’s team to access transition resources Monday, allowing the formal transition of power to begin, ending a stand-off in which the Biden team accused the GSA of withholding resources for political reasons. That same day, Biden announced a number of cabinet picks, including the core of his national security team.
“Immediately, we’ve gotten outreach from the national security shop to just across the board,” Biden told NBC News’ Lester Holt.
“They’re already working out my ability to get presidential daily briefs, we’re already working out meeting with the COVID team in the White House and how to not only distribute but get from a vaccine being distributed to a person able to get vaccinated, so I think we’re going to not be so far behind the curve as we thought might be in the past,” the president-elect continued. “And I must say the outreach has been sincere — it has not been begrudging so far and I don’t expect it to be.”
BIDEN TO BEGIN RECEIVING PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF AS TRANSITION IS FORMALLY UNDERWAY
Trump’s coronavirus vaccine chief Dr. Moncef Slaoui had not had contact with Biden’s transition team as of Sunday, as vaccine candidates near a prospective rollout.
After the GSA gave its approval, President Trump thanked Murphy for her handling of the ascertainment process, while pledging to continue his legal challenge of the election results.
Trump’s legal strategy to overturn the election results took a blow this week after Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania certified their results.
“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!”
GSA CHIEF INFORMS PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN THAT FORMAL TRANSITION PROCESS CAN BEGIN
A transition official told Fox News that the Biden transition team has now made contact with every federal agency, as his transition is now formally underway.
Biden also pushed back on assertions that his administration would be like a “third Obama term,” after he announced a slew of Obama-era officials to his cabinet.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“This is not a third Obama term because … we face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama/Biden administration,” he said. “President Trump has changed the landscape. It’s become America first, it’s been America alone.”