McConnell defends Trump's refusal to concede to Biden -- he has 'every right to look into allegations and request recounts'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) met with U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr Monday afternoon in Washington, D.C. before walking onto the Senate floor to defend President Donald J. Trump's refusal to concede the presidency to President-elect Joe Biden.

McConnell said Trump has "every right to look into allegations and request recounts."

As of Monday afternoon, only four Republican senators — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alabama, Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins  of Maine, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska — had congratulated Biden on his projected victory, Axiosreported. Top Trump allies in the House and Senate have continued to spread unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and attack the media for calling the race before every "legal" vote is counted.

"In the United States of America, all legal ballots must be counted. Any illegal ballots must not be counted. The process must be transparent or observable by all sides, and the courts are here to work through concerns," McConnell said. "Our institutions are actually built for this. We have the system in place to consider concerns and President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options."

McConnell added, "And notably, the Constitution gives no role in this process to wealthy media corporations. The projections and commentary of the press do not get veto power over the legal rights of any citizen, including the president."