周日，两位可能发现自己处于总统过渡进程中心的参议员提出了他们对未来几周的展望，和平移交权力和大流行救济立法的进展都是首要议程。
共和党参议员罗伊·布朗特。他承认了他的几个党内同事不愿接受的一个现实，那就是总统唐纳德·特朗普努力揭露未经证实的选民欺诈并改变结果选举预计不会成功。
布朗特在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说:“现在是总统的律师陈述事实的时候了，然后是这些事实为自己辩护的时候了。”
他说，选举后总会有一些变化，但“任何变化都不太可能大到足以产生影响。”
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2020年9月16日，参议员罗伊·布朗特和参议员克里斯·库恩在华盛顿的委员会听证会上发言
美国广播公司新闻首席主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯(George Stephanopoulos)注意到拜登在几个有争议的战场州的优势越来越大，他对布朗特提出质疑，问他为什么在早些时候的采访中没有更清楚地说明选举结果。
“你是前(州)国务卿。斯特凡诺普洛斯说:“在过去的几天里，我与国务卿、民主党和共和党的州官员进行了交谈，他们说，他们没有看到任何欺诈的广泛证据。”“乔·拜登赢得了这次选举。为什么不能承认?”
“这是一次势均力敌的选举，我们需要承认这一点，”布朗特在提到各州的官方拉票程序后，部分回应道。“这是一个过程。我们需要经历一个过程。我认为拜登副总统和特朗普总统都受益于这一进程。”
民主党人很快注意到，没有提出实质性不当行为的具体证据，他们批评了特朗普虚假的胜利宣言，并敦促他让步。其中之一，参议员克里斯·库恩斯，德尔。占据拜登参议员旧席位的拜登周日加强了这一信息，称欺诈指控需要立即证据，但如果没有证据，过渡应该继续。
“如果共和党人要支持特朗普总统和他对接受选举结果的抵制，总统需要展示一些事实，而不仅仅是愤怒的推文，”库恩斯在“本周”的另一次采访中说。
这位参议员还强调了拜登在他预计将赢得的有争议的州越来越多的领先优势，并分享了他的信念，即更快的结果不仅可以更清楚地了解选举的获胜者，还可以更清楚地了解其信息。
他说:“如果我们看到所有这些州在同一个晚上同时出现，我们会评论全国各地，从宾夕法尼亚州、密歇根州、威斯康星州，到佐治亚州和亚利桑那州等民主党几十年来都没有赢得的州——乔·拜登在普选中赢得了7500万张选票，我认为他有一个使命让我们团结起来，推动我们前进。”“我认为美国人民选择了团结而不是分裂，选择了希望而不是恐惧，这让我对未来几个月我们能做些什么感到乐观。”
库恩斯是总统当选人的亲密盟友，据传他正在考虑内阁职位。周日，他指出，他周二再次当选参议员，但如果被要求担任国务卿等职务，他将“荣幸地服务”。
至于他在国会的工作和现任白宫主人，这位参议员认为，除了接受竞选结果，特朗普还可以通过促进冠状病毒救济谈判。
他说:“特朗普总统在未来73天的过渡期间可以表现出一些风度的一种方式是公开支持一项重要的大流行救济法案。”“在过去的一周里，我们有了创纪录的新病例。我们应该团结起来，为美国人民提供他们期待已久的救济。”
库恩斯预测，在跛脚鸭会议期间，任何立法的成功都需要两党的支持，拜登和参议员卡马拉·哈里斯(Kamala Harris)将与共和党参议院领导层进行“外联”。他还指出，无论未来几周取得什么进展，应对大流行仍将是拜登政府的首要议程。
“我不认为现在传递强有力的东西会破坏(以后)传递更广泛的东西的机会，”他说。“坦率地说，我们不知道这场流行病现在会走向何方，但它不会朝着好的方向发展。”
布朗特同意两党“将继续寻找合作的方式”，并把对更大团结的兴趣描述为选举的收获。
布朗特说:“我认为副总统拜登昨晚做得很好，他谈到了这个国家想要走向何方。”。“实现这一目标的一个方法是以应有的方式结束这场选举。”
展望1月份，这位密苏里州参议员说，国会就职典礼联合委员会目前正在计划“外部的、全面的就职典礼”，因为在大流行期间，“缩减比扩大更容易”。
在目前围绕特朗普对选举结果的反应的争议中，他还是对1月20日的仪式做出了预测。
他说:“我预计副总统拜登和特朗普总统都将在就职日登上舞台，这将是一个强有力的信息，无论他们中的哪一个在那天宣誓就职。”
Blunt acknowledges results unlikely to change, Coons declares Biden mandate for unity
A pair of senators who may find themselves at the center of the presidential transition process offered their outlook Sunday on the coming weeks, with both a peaceful transfer of power and progress on pandemic relief legislation at the top of the agenda.
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., acknowledged a reality that several of his party colleagues have been reluctant to accept, that PresidentDonald Trump's effort to exposeunsubstantiated voter fraudand alter the outcome of theelectionis not expected to succeed.
"It's time for the president's lawyers to present the facts and then it's time for those facts to speak for themselves," Blunt said on ABC's "This Week."
He said there are always some changes after an election, but it "seems unlikely that any changes could be big enough to make a difference."
ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, noting Biden's growing margins in several contested battleground states, challenged Blunt -- who will chair the forthcoming inauguration no matter the winner -- on why he wasn't being more clear about the election outcome earlier in the interview.
"You're a former (state) secretary of state. I spoke with secretaries of state, Democrat and Republican state officials over the last several days, they said they've seen no widespread evidence of any kind of fraud at all," Stephanopoulos said. "Joe Biden has won this election. Why can't you acknowledge it?"
"This is a close election and we need to acknowledge that," Blunt responded, in part, after earlier referring to the states' official canvassing procedures. "It's a process. There's a process here that we need to go through. I think both Vice President Biden and President Trump benefit from that process."
Democrats, quick to note that no concrete evidence of substantial wrongdoing has been presented, have criticized Trump's false proclamations of victory and pushed for him to concede. One of them, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who occupies Biden's old Senate seat, reinforced that message Sunday, saying that claims of fraud require immediate evidence, but absent it, the transition should continue.
"If Republicans are going to support President Trump and his resistance to accepting the outcome of the election, the president needs to show some facts, not just angry tweets," Coons said in a separate interview on "This Week."
The senator also highlighted Biden's increasing leads in the contested states he is projected to win, sharing his belief that quicker results would've provided a clearer picture of not only the election's winner, but its message.
"If we'd seen all of those states come in on one night at the same time, we'd be remarking on how all over the country, from states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, to states that Democrats haven't won in decades like Georgia and Arizona-- Joe Biden won 75 million votes in the popular vote and he's got I think a mandate to bring us together and move us forward," he said. "I think the American people have chosen unity over division and hope over fear, and that gives me optimism about what we can do in the months ahead."
Coons is a close ally of the president-elect who is rumored to be under consideration for a cabinet role. On Sunday, he noted he was re-elected to his Senate seat Tuesday but would be "honored to serve," if asked to take on a role, such as secretary of state.
As for his work in Congress and the current occupant of the White House, the senator argued that beyond accepting the outcome of the race, Trump could ease the transition by facilitatingcoronavirusrelief negotiations.
"One way that President Trump can show some graciousness in the next 73 days during the transition is to publicly support a significant pandemic relief bill," he said. "We've had record new cases all this past week. It's past time for us to come together and deliver the relief the American people are waiting for."
With bipartisan support needed to guarantee the success of any legislation during the lame-duck session, Coons predicted "outreach" from Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris to Republican Senate leadership. He also noted that, regardless of progress in the coming weeks, the pandemic response would remain at the top of the Biden administration's agenda.
"I don't think that passing something that is strong now undermines the opportunity to pass something broader (later)," he said. "We frankly don't know where this pandemic's going right now, but it's not going in a good direction."
Blunt agreed that the parties are "going to continue to find ways to work together" and characterized an interest in greater unity as the election's takeaway.
"I thought Vice President Biden did a great job last night talking about where the country wants to head," Blunt said. "One way to do that is to finish this election the way it deserves to be finished."
Looking ahead to January, the Missouri senator said that the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies was currently planning for "an outside, full-scale inauguration" as "it's easier to scale-back than to scale-up," amid the pandemic.
And amid the current controversy over Trump's response to the election results, he nevertheless offered a prediction for the Jan. 20 ceremony.
"I expect to see both Vice President Biden and President Trump on the stage on Inaugural Day, and that'll be a powerful message, no matter which one of them is sworn in that day," he said.
。@ GStephanopoulos:“乔·拜登赢得了这次选举。为什么不能承认？”
“现在是总统的律师陈述事实的时候了，也是这些事实为自己说话的时候了，”共和党参议员布朗特在特朗普提出毫无根据的指控时表示。https://t.co/aN8iz2wqRapic.twitter.com/NuH62qaJCP
