Philadelphia Mayor Says Donald Trump Needs to ‘Put His Big Boy Pants on’ and ‘Congratulate’ the Winner

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney called on President Donald Trump to “put his big boy pants on” and congratulate the winner of the 2020 presidential election after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden became the projected winner for Pennsylvania. Trump has attempted to cast doubt on the mail-in ballots still being counted in the state with baseless claims. By Friday morning, Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania increased by over 9,000 votes.

“This is not about a victory for a single candidate or a single political party, this is truly a victory for our democracy,” Kenney told reporters Friday when asked to respond to Trump’s Thursday statement. “That may sound cliché, but today it’s oh so true.” Kenney, a Democrat, said the votes will continue to be counted “until every ballot, mail-in ballot, absentee ballot, and provisional ballot is counted.” So even though Trump and his supporters “continue to spew baseless claims,” Kenney said the founding fathers “who conceived this system just a 15-minute walk down the street I know would be proud.”

“I think what the president needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on,” Kenney said, adding that Trump should “acknowledge the fact that he lost” and should “congratulate the winner” like Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Al Gore did. Carter and Bush are the last incumbent presidents to lose re-election, while Gore lost the 2000 election to President George W. Bush. “Stop this and let us move forward as a country,” Kenney added. “I doubt he’ll listen to me but that’s it.”

During Trump’s statement on Thursday from the White House briefing room, he made unsubstantiated claims about Philadelphia. He claimed observers “have been kept far away, very far away” and there was “paper on all of the windows so you can’t see in.” However, Philadelphia officials set up a live stream of the ballot counting. Trump has not shown “one iota of evidence” of voter fraud, Kenney said Friday, notes The Hill. “What we have seen here in Philadelphia is a democracy, pure and simple.”

On Friday, Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania by just over 9,000 votes, reports The Associated Press. The counting has continued through the end of the week because officials were forced to wait until Election Day to start processing mail-in ballots under state law. On Tuesday night, Trump appeared to have the lead in Pennsylvania, but the mail-in ballots have heavily favored Biden. After the new vote count in Pennsylvania was announced, the Trump campaign voted the “election is not over” and planned to mount court challenges in the state, as well as Georgia and Nevada. The campaign believes Trump will win Arizona as well.