Republicans are split on the projected win by President-elect Joe Biden even as President Donald Trump refused to concede defeat, claiming widespread voter fraud.
Some GOP lawmakers were more accepting of Biden's lead on Sunday after he was projected the winner, while others leaned more into Trump's narrative of voter fraud, championing legal challenges by his campaign, reported The Hill.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah is one of two Republican senators who congratulated the president-elect on his win on Saturday, although he said that Trump will 'keep on fighting until the very end'.
"You're not gonna change the nature of President Trump in these last days, apparently, of his presidency," Romney said.
Moments after Biden was projected to be the winner of the US presidential elections, Trump refused to concede defeat, saying that the election was "far from over", and promised legal challenges by his re-election campaign.
Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan said on Sunday that though any potential evidence of widespread voter fraud should be released, but he doesn't believe anything will overturn the projected election results.
"There are legal processes if you think there are mistakes, but I don't think we're gonna see anything that's gonna overturn this election," The Hill quoted Hogan, who spoke to CNN's "State of the Union." Senator Pat Toomey also said that the news outlets were 'probably correct' to declare the winner of the election but stated that there was a reason why the count was done.
Earlier, former President George W Bush also called Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to congratulate him on his election victory, while also congratulating Trump for a hard-fought election.
"They [the people] have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government," Bush said.
Trump's campaign has filed several lawsuits to challenge the results in a few battleground states after the president spent months spreading unsubstantiated claims that mail-in ballots could open the election up to fraud, reported The Hill.
On the other hand, Senator Roy Blunt did not acknowledge Biden's victory, instead noting that it was time for the President to present the facts, referring to allegations of voter fraud by the President.
"It's time for the president's lawyers to present the facts, and it's time for those facts to speak for themselves," Blunt told an American broadcast network.GOP South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem asserted that Biden's win was the result of 'illegal activities'.
Noem insisted that 'computer glitches' and reports of 'dead people voting in Pennsylvania' were examples of widespread fraud, reported New York Times.
"When you break the process on which we elect our leaders, you will break America forever," she said.
"Every legal challenge should be heard," said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House minority leader. "Then and only then will America decide who won the race." Likewise, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina urged Mr Trump to refuse to concede and fight on.
"Do not accept the media's declaration of Biden," said Graham, on Fox News on Sunday morning. He called the election "contested" and urged: "Do not concede, Mr President. Fight hard." Meanwhile, several Republican leaders and lawmakers, including Vice President Mike Pence, have refrained from making comments on Biden's win, which has left Trump to battle against the election results without the full vocal support of his party behind him.
Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, defeated Trump in a closely contested election and will be the 46th president of the United States. He is the oldest person elected President in the history of the US at the age of 78.
In his third attempt at the White House, Biden, a four-decade Washington figure as a Senator and then a vice president, received more than 74 million votes, 4 million more than Trump, and more than any other presidential candidate.
