Outgoing GOP congressman slams colleagues for refusing to 'acknowledge facts' on Trump defeat

On CNN Tuesday, outgoing Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) faulted his party for refusing to admit President Donald Trump's election loss when they know better.

"It is a fact. And some of your colleagues have admitted Biden is the winner. Some. Only four in the Senate have said so," said anchor Erin Burnett, noting that Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) has said Republicans are privately telling him to congratulate Biden but can't say it publicly. "Have you heard similar sentiments? Everybody knows what is happening, but publicly they're just not saying it?"

"Yes," said Riggleman, who lost his primary in part because of GOP resentment that he had officiated a same-sex wedding. "And I know that's a very blunt answer, but yes. It's like, hey, thanks for being out there. thanks for doing this. And we've been getting calls from Republicans saying, thank the congressman, I can't really say much out here, but thank him for doing the right thing."

"I just don't understand why we can't just state a fact," added Riggleman. "I know a lot of it has to with elections where everybody is so worried about what somebody will say about them. But you're elected to serve, not to pander. And it's something I've been talking about since I was elected. We just need to acknowledge facts. It's not that big of a deal to say we've transitioned to another president. I just don't understand it."

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