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Top Republicans' Silence Called 'Deafening,' As Biden Speaks To Nation

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

As former vice president Joe Biden prepared to addressed the country as president-elect, top Kentucky Republicans remained largely silent Saturday night.

Sen. Rand Paul signaled his willingness to back Trump campaign legal challenges, retweeting former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who wrote that the election needs to be litigated so Americans can be sure of the results. Mulvaney added that a Trump loss is "still a long way from being determined."

Meanwhile, Sen. Mitch McConnell has appeared to straddle the line in his comments in recent days, limiting them to promises of a peaceful transfer of power in the event of a new administration, but stopping short congratulating the vice president.

University of Kentucky election law analyst Joshua Douglas wrote on Twitter Saturday that the majority leader's "silence right now is deafening." Both critics on the left and right have taken the GOP to task for its posture toward Trump's unsubstaniated allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Both McConnell and Congressman Andy Barr have picked up on the president's language about counting every "legal vote." Barr told WKYT Friday that the Trump team has "every right to present evidence that some of the ballots that are being processed are illegally cast and the evidence will have to be decided by a court."

Yet so far many suits filed by the Trump campaign have been dismissed on lack of merit, and those that remain are unlikely to change the outcome of the presidential race, according to election experts.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.