Biden gets congratulatory calls from Boris Johnson, other world leaders
President-elect Joe Biden has had conversations with world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Biden spoke by phone first with Trudeau Monday evening, the Biden transition team said, during which he congratulated the former vice president on the race being called in his favor.
The two discussed working together on tackling the coronavirus pandemic once Biden takes office, as well as other areas in which they hoped to collaborate.
The two also reportedly discussed “their shared commitment to racial and social justice,” according to the Biden transition.
On Tuesday morning, Biden took a call from Johnson, who “warmly congratulated” the president-elect on his election win.
A Biden transition spokesperson declined to comment on the conversation, though a Johnson representative at 10 Downing St., the UK government headquarters, said that the two leaders expressed their commitment to working together.
“The Prime Minister and President-elect also looked forward to working closely together on their shared priorities, from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy, and building back better from the coronavirus pandemic,” the spokesperson said, referencing Biden’s “Build Back Better” campaign initiative.
Biden also spoke by phone on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, his transition team confirmed.
News of Biden’s calls with the five came as another world leader offered their delayed congratulations to the president-elect: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan, who has long been criticized by Biden, offered a muted, yet congratulatory message in a statement released by his office Tuesday.
“I believe that the strong cooperation and alliance between our countries will continue to contribute to world peace in the future, as it has done so far,” the Turkish leader said.
Up until Tuesday, Erdoğan was among the scores of world leaders that had held off congratulating Biden.
Unlike the United States’ neighbors to the north, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has declined to comment on the state of the 2020 race.
Similarly, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro have all declined to congratulate Biden, calling it premature since ballots are till being counted in some states and the Trump team has promised court challenges, including one filed Monday in Pennsylvania.
Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 White House race on Saturday after clinching the must-win state of Pennsylvania, even though ballots are still being counted. He has since claimed victory and begun building out his transition team, but Trump has refused to concede the race.
On Sunday, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he intends to file up to 10 lawsuits alleging election fraud.
Speaking to Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” the former NYC mayor argued, “At this point, it would be wrong for him to concede.”
With Post wires
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