The U.S Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, perhaps, shocked Americans and the world on Tuesday, when he predicted that President Donald Trump “would win a second term in office” despite the victory of his opponent, Joe Biden, at the recently held presidential polls.
The New York Post reported that Mr Pompeo, during a briefing at the State Department’s headquarters, Pompeo was asked by a reporter whether government officials were “preparing to engage” with Mr Biden’s transition team.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Mr Pompeo said with a smile.
“The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today, successful today and successful with the president who’s in office on Jan. 20 a minute afternoon,” he was quoted by the newspaper.
Newsmen reported how the former U.S. vice president, Mr Biden, was elected the 46th president of the United States of America.
Mr Biden, 78, won the keen-fought election by scoring 273 electoral college votes against incumbent President Donald Trump’s 214.
The result of the election was announced Saturday after several tense days of vote-counting in many battlegrounds. Before the election day on Tuesday, about 100 million votes had been cast.
Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s running mate, made history as the first woman to be elected U.S. vice president.
But an enraged Mr Trump had tweeted “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” an hour before the announcement of the Biden/Harris victory .
Mr Trump has since refused to accept defeat, instead approaching the courts to upturn the results in some swing states he lost but insists there were electoral malpractice.
Mr Trump has shunned a request by the Center for Presidential Transition to begin turning over the reins of power.
The New York Post reported that the Biden’s team is weighing legal action to force the federal General Services Administration to move ahead with transition planning. This includes access to the State Department.
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Mr Biden has also set up transition website in preparation for taking over power early next year.
‘Not yet over’
But a confident Mr Pompeo was asked Tuesday if he agreed with the electoral fraud allegations levelled by his boss.
Mr Pompeo reportedly said he was “getting calls from all across the world” on the issue. He didn’t answer the question directly.
“We must count every legal vote. We must make sure that any vote that wasn’t lawful not be counted,” he said. “We’ve gotta get that right and when we get it right, we’ll get it right.”
