Former President George W. Bush said Sunday he talked to President-elect Joe Biden and “extended my warm congratulations,” while assuring that any issues about voter fraud raised by the Trump campaign will be “properly adjudicated.”
“I just talked to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night,” Bush said in a statement, referring to Biden’s victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware.
Bush also said he reached out to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to congratulate her on the “historic election.”
“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” he said in the statement.
Bush said he offered Biden the same thoughts he related to former President Barack Obama and President Trump, “my prayers for his success and my pledge to help any way I can.”
Trump has not conceded to Biden, who was declared the winner on Saturday after Pennsylvania pushed him past the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and has continued to claim voter fraud and launch legal challenges in the states.
Bush said the president has every right to “request recounts and pursue legal challenges and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated.”
“The American people can have confidence this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear,” he said.