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National Security Adviser Says It Looks Like Biden Has Won The Election

National security adviser Robert O'Brien is seen at the virtual ASEAN summit on Saturday.
National security adviser Robert O'Brien is seen at the virtual ASEAN summit on Saturday.

Updated at 12:06 p.m. ET

National security adviser Robert O'Brien promised a "professional transition" with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, partly diverging from the mode in use by President Trump in contesting the election.

"If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner — and, obviously, things look that way now — we'll have a very professional transition with the national security council, no doubt about it," O'Brien said.

His remarks, which were made last week, were streamed onlineMonday by the Soufan Center's Global Security Forum.

Trump has refused to acknowledge the results of the Nov. 3 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. He has falsely proclaimed several times on Twitter that he "won the election" or complained about the process.

Trump even took aim on Monday at a onetime ally, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who also had acknowledged the results of the race and contemplated the coming Biden administration. Trump suggested on Twitter he might throw his support behind a challenger when DeWine is up for reelection in 2022.

O'Brien, meanwhile, addressed the personnel he expected to encounter in the incoming administration, specialists he called "very professional folks who are coming in to take these positions, many of whom have been here before and spent a lot of time in the White House in prior administrations."

It wasn't clear whether O'Brien might pay a price within the White House for his divergence from the official line. Trump not only has attacked politicians who've acknowledged the results of the election but the administration also has fired officials in various Cabinet departments, and may remove more of them.

O'Brien suggested in his recorded remarks, which alluded to the delayed transition following the 2000 election, that eventually the process of handing over responsibility would begin in earnest and move ahead as it always has.

"The great thing is, this is the United States of America; we've passed the baton and had peaceful successful transitions even in the most contentious periods."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Philip Ewing is an election security editor with NPR's Washington Desk. He helps oversee coverage of election security, voting, disinformation, active measures and other issues. Ewing joined the Washington Desk from his previous role as NPR's national security editor, in which he helped direct coverage of the military, intelligence community, counterterrorism, veterans and more. He came to NPR in 2015 from Politico, where he was a Pentagon correspondent and defense editor. Previously, he served as managing editor of Military.com, and before that he covered the U.S. Navy for the Military Times newspapers.
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