New congresswoman who backs Trump's election lies is mad her opponent won't concede

A pro-Trump Republican who won a House seat in Minnesota in the 2020 election appeared on Fox News Thursday and complained that her Democratic opponent hasn’t called her to concede the race. But while she expressed concern about her own transition to the seat held previously by longtime Rep. Collin Peterson, she defended Donald Trump’s refusal to begin a peaceful transfer of power to the man who won the national election, President-elect Joe Biden.

Michelle Fischbach, a former lieutenant governor of Minnesota, defeated longtime Peterson, one of the two Democrats in the House of Representatives who voted against the impeachment inquiry into Trump last year, by 53% to 40% earlier this month.

“He’s never called,” Fischbach told Fox News. “I was just surprised that he decided not to call because he’s had a couple of weeks now.”

She added that she was worried that constituent casework might get lost in the shuffle when she becomes a member of the House in January.

“It’s unfortunate,” she said. “I hope those folks know to give us a call and that we’re able to help them. … I don’t know how many case files there would be, but those folks are going to be hanging out there not really knowing what to do.”

A spokesperson for Fischbach did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

When asked about Trump’s own refusal to concede his defeat to Biden, Fischbach suggested that this was fine because, unlike Peterson, Trump is contesting his defeat.

“I pray that it will be handled correctly and that President Trump will win, because I believe he did win,” she said, “and I think that those votes — when they didn’t win the votes of the American people, they’re just finding votes at this point.”

Biden decisively won popular vote and Electoral College majorities, and bipartisan election officials have found no evidence of any widespread fraud. Still, Trump has repeatedly lied about the election, declaring himself the real victor.

There is clearly significantly less work involved in a transition for a single member of Congress than in the handoff of the entire federal executive branch from one president to another.

In refusing to acknowledge the outcome of the presidential election, the Trump administration has prevented Biden from receiving classified intelligence briefings, stopped his transition team from beginning security clearances for possible hires, and blocked the team from coordinating pandemic response plans with the outgoing administration.

Biden, speaking about the coronavirus pandemic, noted on Monday: “More people may die if we don’t coordinate.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.