December 15, 2020 12:44 PM UTC

Cory Gardner is a Bad Example

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• by: Colorado Pols

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated Democrat Joe Biden for winning the Presidential election today, exactly six weeks after Election Day. As The Washington Post reports:

“The electoral college has spoken, so today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” said McConnell (R-Ky.). He also nodded to the historic elevation of his Senate colleague, Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), to the vice presidency.

McConnell’s statement comes after some of his Senate colleagues strained to avoid saying the same thing Monday. The No. 3 Senate Republican, John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), called questions about the matter “gotcha” questions.

Chris Cillizza follows up for CNN on Barrasso’s ridiculous comment:

After the Electoral College — as expected — confirmed Monday that Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States, a reporter asked Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso whether or not Biden was now officially the “President-elect.” Barrasso called it a “gotcha” question.

Yes, you read that right.

How was asking whether Biden is President-elect a “gotcha” question, you ask? “I know what the Constitution says, Article 2, Section 1. And I know that the Electoral College has voted today, so to me, that tells us a lot … I follow the Constitution,” Barrasso, the third ranking member of Republican Senate leadership, explained. “Three weeks ago the transition occurred in terms of … access to the briefings and access to the money.”

It’s possible that Barrasso was following the example set by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma), who used this same lame excuse for an answer back in November:

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) when asked if he considers Joe Biden the president-elect:

“You’re going to play gotcha questions with me? You guys, just come on. I’m not going to play your gotcha questions. I’m not going to play your games. I’m tired of it.”

— Alex Bolton (@alexanderbolton) November 17, 2020

The lesson, as always: Don’t be like Cory Gardner.